A Destiny of Blood
by manofgold57
Summary: 14 years. 14 years since Harry's parents were killed. 14 years since Harry was last seen in Biritain. For the first time in 14 years Harry returns to Britain contracted to protect a beautiful Frenchwoman. Upon returning Harry no longer can escape fate, he no longer can escape his destiny of blood.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**A/N So I actually had to write this story (really only the first chapter of a larger story) for my English class so a shoutout to my English teacher, whatever your FF account name is. As a general warning, while this story will be rated T it is likely that some of the darker material in this story will end up bordering on an M rating. There probably won't be anything to worry about but I just wanted to kinda put that out there. So for the first time in this story I say, enjoy...**

 **All right go to JKR**

Chapter 1

October 31, 1981

Potter Residence, Godric's Hollow

Spell fire flew through the air, cracking the stone walls of the Potter's ancestral home. Remus could barely see through the smoke, ash, and dust. His eyes watered, his nostrils filled with the scent of death, Remus continued into the ruined house of his lifetime friend. They had known this attack would be inevitable, Voldemort would not let those who defy him live. Upon the arrival of the Death Eaters James had immediately called The Order for aid. Soon a pitched battle was joined, only for Voldemort himself to arrive and drive The Order back. Upon entering the living room Remus saw a sight that would haunt him until his last days, the body of James Potter, lying there, with no life in his eyes, and blood dribbling out of his mouth. Soon a monumental rage filled Remus, he felt his blood boil and heart rate quicken. An insurmountable desire for revenge filled Remus until he could think of nothing else save killing all Death Eaters, even Voldemort himself, in retaliation for James' death.

Remus then heard a blood-curdling scream coming from upstairs: Lily's scream. Remus knew that Voldemort had made it to Harry's room and if nobody helped Lily in time then all their sacrifices would be for naught. Racing up the stairs Remus saw a man in dark robes guarding the door.

"Avada Kedavra!" The man yelled as the green light of the killing curse flew over his head and exploded against the doorway behind him, shattering the intricate stone masonry.

"Stupefy!" He yelled back. Unlike the Death Eater, Remus' aim was true and the spell struck his target in the center of the chest, throwing him down the hallway.

"Avada Kedavra!" The words made Remus freeze, for the spell was not directed at him, it was cast from behind the door that led to Harry's room.

Guilt, anger, shame, regret that two of closest friends had died along with their son because he wasn't fast enough. These feelings filled Remus and he heard those dreadful words reverberate through the air one more time.

"Avada Kedavra!" The slithering voice of Voldemort said. Remus dropped to his knees in the middle of the hallway, his mission failed, his hopes shattered, and his dreams of being a godfather to Harry ruined. Remus never noticed the brilliant white light coming from behind the door through the tears that filled his eyes. He only began to notice his surrounding when a voice of inhumanly high pitch screamed in pain. The light quickly became unbearable to look at and the screaming became painful to hear. Soon a rumbling had begun to shake the house and Remus was thrown back into the wall; his ears rang from the explosion that occurred in front of him.

Remus warily got to his feet and stumbled to Harry's door. His hand on the doorknob, Remus slowly opened the door, afraid of what he would see inside. Once inside, the wind howled throughout, and rain poured through the gaping hole in the walls and ceiling. Inside lay Lily Potter, surround by the quickly fading runes from her sacrificial magic, and next to her sat the crib that held Harry Potter. Harry lay there, crying, yet untouched save for small wound in his head which quickly welled up with blood. Taking the sleeve of his cloak Remus wiped the blood of Harry's forehead to reveal a cut in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Remus you need to leave here now! The Death Eaters are regrouping!" Alastor Moody said as he burst in through the doorway, frantically fighting off a barrage of spells.

"What do I do with Harry?" Remus quickly yelled back.

"You must take him with you Remus; protect Harry at all costs." The sagacious voice of Dumbledore said after the loud crack the accompanies apparition.

"But I'm needed here, so I can avenge James and Lily." Remus replied with a scathing bitterness in his voice at the thought of not being able to fight.

"Remus remove those foolish thoughts of revenge from your head and realize that to best serve Lily James' you must protect their son." Albus said, exasperation evident in his voice because of Remus' stubbornness.

Albus returned to the hallway and the fight without second glance towards Remus, not seeing the scowl on Remus' face. Remus returned to Harry's crib and gently picked him up. He then grabbed a piece of shingle from the shattered roof.

"Portus." Remus said as he envisioned his target location, Hogsmeade village. He would have gone straight to Hogwarts if it were not for the anti-portkey wards, so he would have to settle for Hogsmeade. A soft blue glow surrounded the piece of shingle and Remus knew the portkey was ready for activation, all he had to do was say the activation word.

"Vindicta," Revenge. Remus could feel the world twisting around him and in seconds he was standing outside Hogsmeade's main road through the village. The normally cheerful and lively village was quiet and dark as Remus warily walked through, sticking to the shadows in case there were unwanted eyes watching. Not even The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade's most popular tavern, had any signs of life. Remus had barely made it halfway through the village when he felt that sixth sense of danger. Always one to trust his senses and feelings Remus dived into an alleyway and casted the disillusionment charm on himself and Harry, turning them invisible.

"Are you sure they came here?" A voice came from the street, distorted through the metal of a Death Eater's mask.

"Yes Lucius, do you doubt the Dark Lord's wishes?" A female voice tainted with the effects of insanity said in response. That meant that both Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort's two most fanatical followers, were hunting him.

"I would never doubt the Dark Lord but there is nobody here." Lucius said.

The two of them passed by the alleyway we were hidden in, barely giving it a cursory glance.

"Well deal with your insecurities, the Dark Lord said for us to be here and to kill anyone who leaves the Potter house to seek refuge in Hogwarts." Bellatrix said.

By now Remus estimated that the two were nearing the end of the village, and Remus prepared to leave. Casting a silencing charm on himself so his footsteps would not be heard, Remus set out in the alleys of Hogsmeade, not daring to go down the main road due to the Death Eater's presence. Remus made it out of the village without further incident and didn't see either Death Eater during his escape. Once he reached the edge of the village Remus threw all caution in the wind and sprinted up the path towards Hogwarts that he had travelled so many times as a student.

He had just made it past the boulder that marked the halfway point when the Death Eaters sprung their trap. Upon seeing all that surrounded him Remus felt the cold pit of fear and despair settle in his stomach.

"Remus my friend it has been far too long since we last met." Lucius said in a contemptuous, sneering voice.

Looking around Remus could see that he was completely surrounded, a dozen Death Eaters all with their wands out and poised to strike. Seeing that fighting was futile, Remus quickly tried to apparate out but instead of the twisting feeling of apparition he only felt a wave of nausea and dizziness.

"Did you really think we wouldn't have put up anti-apparition wards?" Bellatrix asked somewhere from his left, voice trilling with the excitement of the kill.

"No but it's always worth a try." Remus said back, knowing the he and Harry's survival was based only on his ability to delay them with his words until Dumbledore and The Order could arrive. Remus looked around him and noticed the carved patterns on the silver masks of the Death Eaters, marking them all as Voldemort's Inner Circle. Yet as he did this his eyes also wandered along the tree line, looking for any sign of incoming aid. If he hadn't been so scrupulous in his search he might have never noticed the hooded man lying in the bushes, watching.

Only a little longer, Remus thought as he scrambled to come up with more to say. "12 members of the Inner Circle, what ever did I do to deserve such an honor?" He asked, feigning innocent curiosity.

"Don't play tricks with us werewolf." Lucius snarled, "I am going to make this simple for you, give us the boy or die."

"Geez and I almost thought the welcome party was for me." Remus retorted. Remus could see a vein bulging in Lucius' neck from his anger. The man in the woods was still there and when Remus made eye contact with him the man held up three fingers and began to count down.

Three… two… one. When he reached zero Remus hit the ground and spellfire erupted all around. Cries of shock, anger, and erupted from the Death Eaters as at least three and maybe more of them went down. Remus felt a hand grab the collar of his robes and haul him to his feet.

"Well look what at what I found." Remus looked up the see the grinning face of Sirius, yet underneath the thin facade of amusement Remus could detect a similar desire for revenge in Sirius' eyes.

"'Bout time you guys showed up." Remus said as he ducked under a sickly purple spell that looked distinctly like a cutting curse.

"Well if you're done babysitting then maybe you can help us." Without another word Sirius recklessly charged back into the fray, throwing curses with reckless abandon.

Remus quickly ran to the tree line and placed Harry behind a boulder, disillusioning him. Nobody would find him here except for Remus. Taking one last look at where he knew Harry sat Remus ran forward to engage with a furious Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Does the little puppy want to play?" She said with a simper. Any coyness in her words was lost in the two killing curses she launched at Remus. Dodging both of them Remus responded with a blasting curse that Bellatrix simply deflected over her shoulder.

They continued trade spells back and forth, neither of them willing to yield to the other. Neither of them noticed the battle quickly winding down around them, all their attention focused on defeating the person that stood before them.

It all ended with a disarming charm cast by Remus. He stood before a defenseless Bellatrix, who despite losing stood there laughing. Her laugh was unnerving, filled with insanity as it was.

"What are you laughing about?" Sirius asked from the left.

"I was thinking about how before you toss me in Azkaban that I should tell you something." When nobody said something she continued, "You may have won today but the Dark Lord will return and all those you lost today will have died in vain."

"James and Lily's death were not in vain." Remus said, the words to the full-body bind charm on his lips.

"Oh but they were, the only good that came out of James' death was the enjoyment of watching him beg for death after the Dark Lord tortured him." She said this with a sickly smile on her face, waiting for Remus' reaction.

Remus felt his blood boil and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to make her pay for her words. Remus prepared to cast the spell that would silence her, permanently.

And Remus said the words he had promised to himself he would never say.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Bellatrix had been waiting for this however, she rolled under the curse only for it to hit the man standing behind her: Arthur Weasley.

Shock and revulsion at what he had done filled Remus, so much so that he never noticed that Bellatrix broke through the anti-apparition wards and left.

Remus felt hands grab him and force him to his knees. He knew the consequences of what he had done. Dumbledore may use all his influence to prevent it but Remus would now end up with a lifetime sentence to Azkaban. He felt no fear about Azkaban the only thing he was thinking of was how he would fail James and Lily by not taking care of Harry.

With a jolt Remus realized that Harry was still hidden in the forest. Remus had heard what Dumbledore's plans for Harry were, and Remus knew that the Dursleys would not give adequate care to someone they considered different. Harry would face 11 years of beatings, starvation, and would be a prisoner inside the Dursleys' home. If Dumbledore had one failing it was that he was too trusting of people and too willing to give people second chances. If Harry lived with the Dursleys he would pay the price for Dumbledore's failings.

With a definite course of action Remus broke the hold that Moody and Augusta Longbottom had of him and sprinted towards Harry. He could hear people telling him to stop, but he kept running, never looking back. As he picked Harry up he knew he had to hurry, the others were beginning to put up new anti-apparition wards to stop him. He knew of a safe-house he had built, where they would be protected by the fidelus charm and thus unreachable. Remus prepared himself for the longest apparition he had ever attempted, normally when going there he would do it in several jumps to save energy but this time he needed to prevent the tracing of his magic.

Just before the shimmering walls of the anti-apparition wards enclosed around him Remus made the jump. He felt a wrenching in his gut that was more painful than ever before and he world twisted around him. He landed in the familiar mountain peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains and in his rapidly tunneling vision, saw that he and Harry were both safely ensconced inside his snowy safe-house.

The toll of the magic took its full effect and the only thing Remus saw was black, and then nothing.

 **A/N I'm willing to bet y'all didn't expect a major death this early? While it may seem a little trivial now, soon it will have major ramifications on the story. So good, bad, so bad you threw your computer against a wall, or so good you'll burn my house down if I don't update by tomorrow, let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2: A New Beginning

**A/N Hello again, I'm going to give you the same speech about updates that I'm putting in my other story here. School is now out so my updating will be faster now, this story should get about an update a week, maybe faster. As always enjoy…**

Chapter 2

14 years later

Harry could hear the soft patter of his footsteps echoing of the solid stone walls of the fortress that had been all he had known for his entire life. Walking past the training room he could see the scorch marks on the walls, and the fragments of shattered dummies. Ever since he could access magic Harry had been trained by Remus. Everyday from sunrise to sunset Remus had him reading from tomes and learning the intricacies of magic.

Coming to the door Harry knocked, requesting entrance.

"Enter." The gruff yet caring voice of Remus could be heard from behind the large oak door.

Entering the room Harry noticed three men sitting around the fire. "Harry it has been too long!" Said a smiling Sirius who stood up and walked forward, arms raised for a hug that Harry happily gave. Harry disengaged from Sirius only to be wrapped up in Remus' arms.

Now freed from the two of them Harry addressed the final occupant of the room. "And you are…?"

"Jean-Sebastien Delacour" He responded and reached out to shake Harry's hand in greeting. "I was simply talking business with Mr. Lupin and Black here."

Seeing that his presence was likely unwelcome as it usually was during business meetings, Harry made for the door only to be stopped by Remus calling out for him.

"Harry since this heavily involves you I recommend that you stay." His curiosity piqued, Harry sat in the chair the right of Jean-Sebastien and across from Sirius and Remus.

"What you don't know yet Harry is that this year a competition known as the Triwizard Tournament is occurring. The Tournament will be in Hogwarts this time around and Mr. Delacour here is concerned about his daughter's safety in Britain due to the animosity towards veela like his daughter." Harry could see that Jean-Sebastien was obviously uncomfortable due to the sharing of such sensitive information about his daughter.

"Why does he need to know all of this?" Jean-Sebastien asked.

"Because he will be the one performing this mission and so he needs to know what he is walking into." Sirius explained.

"Why should I trust the safety of my daughter in the hands of such a young and inexperienced wizard when you two are more than capable." Jean-Sebastien said, his voice raising at Remus and Sirius. Harry could feel a worm of annoyance towards the frenchman, if he knew his true capabilities then he would not be saying such things.

"Peace Mr. Delacour, your daughter's safety is our number one priority and we will do our best to keep her safe." Remus said in a soothing voice, "Harry is stronger than you think he is, I have trained him all his life with Sirius giving the occasional aid. Harry has been sent on several missions himself and has taken down several powerful dark wizards."

"How?" Jean-Sebastien asked, addressing Harry

"Because I was better." Was the only response Harry deigned to give.

Harry could tell that Jean-Sebastien wasn't particularly appeased by his vague answer but Harry really didn't care.

"I'm still not convinced the he can get the job done." Jean-Sebastien said, completely ignoring the glare Harry sent his way.

Sirius and Remus quickly glanced at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation. It was then that Sirius spoke, "If you would like, I am sure we could arrange for a series of tests so that you may see how proficient Harry is." Harry perked up immediately at that. Seriously, do we really need to do this? Harry thought, quite annoyed with how things had turned out.

"Very well then, if he is skilled enough then we can start talking prices." Jean-Sebastien said, rising from his chair along with the others in the room. "If you will lead the way Mr. Lupin."

When the four arrived in the training room after their short walk Remus made it known what he had planned. "Harry here will go against both Sirius and me in a mock fight." Remus said. "And if you would please stay along the edges of the room so you won't be hit Mr. Delacour."

Sirius and Remus both stood in front of Harry, barely 30 feet away as Harry racked his brain for ways to defeat two opponents who were both slightly his lesser. In a one on one duel Harry was fairly confident he could beat either of them but against both of them Harry knew he would be hard-pressed to survive for an extended period, let alone win.

Seeing them both bow Harry returned the bow and stood, wand poised and a strategy set in his mind.

"Begin." Remus said and before he had finished speaking Harry was casting.

"Fumos." Harry said, creating a yellow smokescreen between himself and Remus. Harry knew that he would have a very limited amount of time to deal with Sirius before Remus could banish his smokescreen charm.

Harry began to wordlessly cast bludgeoning and banishing curses at Sirius, hoping that his superior speed and strength over his godfather would overpower him. Sirius quickly dodged the first few and they flew into the wall, leaving small craters where they impacted. Knowing Harry's lightning fast casting speed, Sirius erected the strongest shield charm he could hoping for aid from Remus. Seeing his plan, and the rapidly vanishing smoke, Harry put as much power as he could into a stunning spell and watched in satisfaction as it tore right through Sirius' shield and threw him against the wall unconscious.

By now all the smoke had cleared and Harry could see Remus staring him down from where he stood slightly to Harry's left. Harry knew he would have to be extra careful fighting Remus, him being a werewolf gave him increased reflexes and speed along with above-average magical strength.

Both of them stood there, waiting for the other to strike first. Remus then with an exaggerated motion began the wand motion for the blasting curse. Normally Harry would have seen this as an opening to put in a quick stunner and end the duel but he had long ago learned what Remus was attempting to do with this tactic. The first time Remus had ever done this Harry tried to exploit the opening only to overextend himself on offense and quickly get disarmed.

And so this time Harry simply deflected the spell off to the side, and continued waiting for the man who had become like a father to him to make his move. Remus stood across from him with a slight smirk on his face, obviously pleased that Harry hadn't fallen for that trick again.

"Incarcerous!" Remus yelled, also casting what appeared like two stunners silently. Harry quickly rolled out of the way of the binding charm and silently threw up a shield charm to absorb one the stunners while allowing the other to harmlessly fly past. In the time it took Harry to defend from those spells Remus had used his supernatural speed to flank Harry on the left and cast more spells. Harry only knew it was coming by feeling the magical current the spell carried with it.

And their duel continued on as such, with Harry avoiding Remus' spells only for Remus to relocate to another side of the room and continue his attacks. Harry barely was given any time to launch any offensive spells of his own. Though it took a while Remus was eventually able to wear Harry down to the point that he couldn't dodge the disarming spell from Remus and Harry's wand flew into Remus' hand, ending the duel.

"Well done Harry, once I get Sirius up you may return to your room." Remus said. "Eneverate." Sirius woke up with a start,

"What the… What happened?" Sirius asked.

"I would say your godson just kicked your ass yet again my friend." Remus explained with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh well I guess I really should be used to it by now, he's been able to do that since he was only twelve." Sirius said with an embarrassed grin as he remembered the first time Harry had ever beaten him.

-Break-

Sirius, Remus, and a very pleased looking Jean-Sebastien returned to the study soon after the fight.

"He really is as good as you say." Jean-Sebastien said.

"Yes he is, though admittedly that wasn't the full extent of what he can do." Sirius said.

"What do you mean?"

"Normally we allow darker curses to be used and if those had been used then Harry would've wiped the floor with both of us." Remus explained.

With that tidbit of information Jean-Sebastien looked even more ecstatic. "But then why did you not use darker spells?"

"Normally we don't use dark spells in front of clients, some people we work with really don't like our more liberal use of them." Remus explained. Remus had never been one for dark spells but he had quickly realized that in his line of work that his dislike for them could easily bring about his death if he didn't efficiently deal with the dark wizards they hunted. And so he and Sirius quickly became accustomed to the use of them and had also begun to teach Harry for when he would have to fight for his life one day.

"And now for payment…" Jean-Sebastien said.

"Thirty-Thousand total with half of it paid upfront and the other half paid when we are done with the mission." Sirius said. Jean-Sebastien looked more than happy with the price and quickly signed his name at the bottom of the contract Remus passed to him.

"If you two don't mind I believe it would be prudent for Harry to spend some time with my daughter so he can get to know her." Jean-Sebastien said.

Remus had to hide a smile when he said that, Sirius was now doubt in a sea of jealousy right now due to Harry getting to stay with a veela for likely an extended time. "If you don't mind Mr. Delacour could you wait outside for us for a minute?" Jean-Sebastien looked confused but complied none the less and was out the door. As the door shut Remus cast a silencing ward so nobody could hear this conversation.

"The lucky little bastard, getting to live with a veela. If James knew he would be so proud of his son." Sirius said with a rueful grin.

"And if Lily heard you say that she would be liable to either hex or slap you." Remus retorted.

"Probably both."

"You do realize that Harry will be going to Hogwarts where for the first time in his life we won't be able to help him." Remus said in a somber tone, killing the cheerful atmosphere.

"I had thought about that, with you being wanted for murder and me being wanted for aiding a fugitive it's not like we can simply waltz into Hogwarts if he gets in trouble." Sirius said. "But if worst comes to worst I can use my animagus form to at least get into Hogsmeade, and if I'm careful to avoid Dumbledore, the school itself."

It seemed by a decent plan but Remus still had his worries, "But if someone sees you then you will likely have a horde of dementors on your tail."

"Harry and I both know how to do a patronus, hell, when you taught Harry how to do it last year he could already probably drive away thirty."

"Yes but still, what about all the other students, the children of the Order members? After the stunt I pulled they all probably won't like him, especially the Weasleys." Remus knew that the Weasleys would hold a deep grudge against Harry. He may have not been the one to cast the spell but Weasleys were notorious for venting their anger on anyone who was involved, guilty or not. "The point is is that Harry is likely to get torn apart by the Hogwarts students."

"Quit worrying so much Remus, Harry is probably more powerful than every student there, and some teachers." Sirius said, trying to allay his closest friend's fears. "Come one we need to go outside and talk to Jean-Sebastien, he probably is annoyed with how long we've been talking." The two rose to leave and outside when they saw Jean-Sebastien Sirius' prediction was correct, they had been talking for too long.

"If you two are done, I'd like to be leaving now." Said a very irritated looking Jean-Sebastien.

"Yes we're quite sorry about that, if you are willing to wait another moment I will grab Harry and you two can leave." Jean-Sebastien only nodded in response to Remus' idea. Minutes later Remus stood outside Harry's door, hand raised to knock.

"Come in." Harry said from behind the door. Opening the door Remus saw Harry waiting on his bed with an already packed suitcase. "I'm ready." Harry rose from the bed to leave but Remus signalled him to remain seated.

"Harry, Sirius and I discussed some things and you need to know what was said. What we didn't tell you is that first you will have to stay at Beauxbatons for a month or two before you leave for Hogwarts." Seeing no emotion on Harry's face prompted Remus to continue, "However, once you get to Hogwarts due to some of my uhh.. prior actions, there will likely be those there that will resent you, hate you even, and will likely be hostile towards you and may even take action against you."

"I know what happened that night, and from the moment you told me that story I knew this would one day happen. But don't worry, I'm still more than thankful for what you did, because if you didn't then I would be living with those god-awful Dursleys right now." Harry saw that his answer brought a smile to Remus' normally solemn features.

"I'm glad I managed to do something right that night, but now you need to leave with Mr. Delacour. Do your best with this mission and remember, it may be difficult, but if you need help you can always ask either Sirius or me. Just send Hedwig with a letter and we will find some way to help." With that the two left the room and rejoined Sirius and Jean-Sebastien who both silently stood there.

"Ready Mr. Potter?"

"Of course Mr. Delacour." Jean-Sebastien reached out and grabbed Harry's shoulder and the two vanished with a soft crack.

 ** **A/N As always I want your feedback, hopefully I didn't bore you all into tears with this filler chapter.** **


	3. Chapter 3: The Delacours

**A/N My internet has been down all weekend so I couldn't write anything. I appreciate the support this story has already gotten, y'all really make writing this worthwhile and fun to write. So here's the next chapter, as always enjoy…**

Chapter 3

The disorienting effect of apparition quickly faded and then Harry could see one of the most impressive houses he had ever seen. A long gravel road, straight as an arrow, led to two separate staircases that met before a marble archway with two 15-foot tall doors that were covered with a grapevine design made of what looked like gold. The three-story house was graceful and elegant yet Harry noticed the thick walls and powerful wards that bespoke of the power and might of the family that lived within.

"Do you find it impressive?" Jean-Sebastien asked as they began the long walk across the Delacour property, taking their time so that Harry could soak in the carefully maintained gardens filled with every flower imaginable, and the grapevine orchards that stretched as far as Harry could see.

"Yes, you have a beautiful house. Yet I can feel that you have arguably some of the best wards in likely all of France."

Jean-Sebastien's expression turned sour, "Yes we do, they are born out the necessity of keeping our family safe from various European wars and other reasons."

"What other reasons?"

Somehow Jean-Sebastien turned even more sour, "That is something I am afraid you will have to ask my wife or daughter about for I am not the one who should speak with you about this."

Seeing that this current avenue of discussion had just been closed, Harry continued his observing of the house as they drew closer to it. What caught Harry's eye was not the intricate details that only now could be seen, but looking out at them from a second story window was a girl who was easily the most beautiful he had ever seen. Despite his knowledge of women being confined to the occasional yet extremely brief visits he would make with Remus to towns nearby their hideout whenever they needed more supplies. Despite only briefly looking Harry could tell by her silvery blonde hair and her angelic face that she put every girl in those villages to shame.

"Ah it would appear my daughter has noticed us." Jean-Sebastien while briefly looking at Harry only to see him returning eye contact with him. Harry saw a brief look of approval flash across Jean-Sebastien's face but it was gone before he could be sure he had seen it.

Once the two reached the massive doors the doors swung open silently and Harry walked into the main hall of the house. The marble floors led to a large central staircase that rose to the higher levels. Two doorways to his left and right led to other rooms inside the house.

"Honey, I'm home." Jean-Sebastien called out, "And Fleur would you please come down here." As he said this Jean-Sebastien led Harry to the right and opened the door which led them into the drawing room. "Please take a seat while we wait on my family." He said as he gestured towards the plush furniture that all surrounded a fire that was cheerfully burning.

Harry sat in a wooden chair that had been shoved in the corner of the room, so that he could see the entire room and also so that he wouldn't become complacent in the comforts of the room. Jean-Sebastien looked surprised yet approving of Harry's choice of seating. "You don't have to worry about anyone in this home Harry, and you don't need to concern yourself with such precautionary measures here." Harry said nothing but still didn't move. "Suit yourself, brandy?"

"Sorry but no, I always try to retain full control of my faculties at all times." Harry said. His choices were born from the endless lessons on constant vigilance that Remus had taught him.

As soon as Jean-Sebastien sat down two women who were so close in appearance that they could almost be mistaken as sister walked in. Jean-Sebastien rose and greeted the one Harry assumed to be his wife with a hug, and then greeted the girl Harry had seen in the window in a similar fashion. The two women scanned the room and noticed Harry in the corner.

"And this must be the one we hired to protect Fleur." Jean-Sebastien's wife stated less as a question and more as a mere statement of facts. Harry noticed that when the women spoke about protecting Fleur that the girl who at this point must have been Fleur had a dark expression.

"Yes my name is Harry Potter." Harry said as he rose to greet the two newcomers.

"It is a pleasure I am Jean-Sebastien's wife Apolline, and this our daughter Fleur." Fleur greeted him pleasantly yet Harry could easily see through the false mask and saw the apparent irritation towards Harry.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Harry." Apolline then addressed her husband, "I trust he is capable of carrying out his duty."

"Yes before I left with him he was tested and I am pleased to say that Fleur will be in capable hands." Jean-Sebastien said putting his wife's worries to rest.

Apolline seemed reassured by her husbands words and rose to address the group. "Well if you don't mind I have family business to attend to." She quickly left through the door which led to the main room in the house.

"I do believe that I must be leaving as well, take this time to get acquainted with each other." Jean-Sebastien said as he too rose to leave. Once he left and the two were left alone a silence filled the room as Fleur simply sat there, studying Harry with an intense gaze. Soon Harry could feel a small nagging voice in the back of his mind that was telling him to do anything possible to impress her. Annoyed with the voice in his head Harry quickly ignored the voice and continued to sit there.

Only after several more minutes of ignoring the increasingly loud voice in his head did Fleur deign to speak. "Most interesting, very few can hold out that long."

"What exactly do you mean?"

Fleur did not answer for a while but once the voice went away she spoke. "Did you feel a voice in your head telling you do things to say, try and impress me?" She asked.

Harry could feel himself growing slightly suspicious, maybe the voice hadn't been as random as he had assumed. "Yes I could but I just simply ignored it." His answer came as a pleasant surprise to Fleur who sat there with a slight smile on her face. It was a good thing Fleur took a while to say anything because her smile, slight as it was, left him completely breathless and if she had asked him anything he was not confident in his ability to form a coherent answer.

"What you just felt was something known as a veela's allure, it is something we naturally emit that causes people, particularly males, to try and impress us. Typically it makes people act like complete idiots. Normally I am able to suppress it but I wanted to try it out on you to see if you could withstand it and I am pleased to say that you passed my little test." Harry was displeased because of her attempted influence of him but he could at least see the reasoning behind it. Fleur then rose from her chair, "Come, walk with me outside."

The two walked in an awkward silence towards the flower garden outside the Delacour home. "Who tends to the flower garden? I've yet to see any house elves that could do it." Harry asked trying to start a conversation.

"No, the house elves do not care for the garden. My sister and I both enjoy this garden and the care of it as kind of a way to escape the magical world." As she got on her knees to observe a rose bush.

"Your father mentioned something to me earlier and he wouldn't explain what he meant except to ask either you or your mother."

"And what would that be?" She asked while turning her head to look up at him.

"He mentioned the wards were for protecting the family from war and he had other reasons that he wouldn't tell me." Harry explained as Fleur stood and rose to her full height.

"I know what my father speaks of and I only tell you because you need to know for your job." Seeing Harry's confirmatory nod she continued. "The other thing the wards protect us from are from slavers who would try to kidnap me, my mom, and my sister. On the slave market veela are considered extremely valuable as sex slaves for obvious reasons."

"At that would be the main reason I am here."

"Yes." Fleur said as they walked into the pristine rows of grapevines. "Don't get me wrong Harry, I appreciate you being here and I appreciate my father wanting to protect me, but the main reason I am so irritated with you is that your presence represents the fact that my father doesn't trust me with my own protection. I am currently the top of my class and will be in my sixth year yet he still won't let me defend myself."

Harry could understand what she was saying, when he first started going on missions Remus insisted that both Sirius and himself were with Harry the entire time. "I'm sure your father is aware of your skill but if I have learned one thing in my life it's that you always want somebody watching your back in case you missed something."

Fleur sent him an appreciative smile and Harry could feel himself get light-headed. He realized that he was going to have to figure out a way to stop that from happening in the future. "You asked where our house elves were, they are currently tending to the grapevines. When the Delacours first settled here after leaving Britain they built this grapevine as a way to earn a living. My ancestors used that money to turn the Delacours into one of the richest families in France." She said as she ran her hand along the recently watered and still wet grapevines.

"A lovely story but I think we need to be heading back now." The sun had nearly completed its descent and Harry judged that it was probably close to seven o'clock now.

When the two reentered the house Apolline walked out of the dining room and was pleased to see them getting to know each other. "Dinner is ready you two." And with that she turned around and went into the dining room.

When Harry walked in he was surprised by the massive size of the room, it fit a table that could easily seat 100 people, maybe more. Jean-Sebastien sat on the end closest to them and with him was Apolline and another girl that was like a carbon copy of Fleur except much younger. "Harry it is good to see you again, this is my youngest daughter Gabrielle." Jean-Sebastien said, however he pulled Harry aside and in a whisper added, "And while she won't be coming with you to Hogwarts can you at least look out for her at Beauxbatons? Being a veela there isn't easy for both of them."

"Of course." Harry said and then took his seat beside Fleur.

Once they were all seated several house elves walked in and began to serve food and wine to the guests. Apparently they heard Harry's earlier words for they gave him water instead, much to Harry's satisfaction. They ate in relative silence only making a little small talk. Throughout the meal though, Harry could see Gabrielle making suggestive looks at Fleur and Harry, much to Fleur's chagrin.

"Is there something I should know about?" Harry quietly asked Fleur. Harry could see a faint blush on Fleur's cheeks when he asked this.

"Sorry about Gabrielle, she thinks that we are going to be the topic of the next great romance story. She insists that you will be the bodyguard that just sweeps me off my feet and marries me." Fleur explained as she gave Gabrielle a pointed look, not seeing the blush that also grew on Harry's face.

After dinner a house elf showed Harry to his rooms which he noticed were right next to Fleur's. Gabrielle said something to Fleur in French which from what Harry heard was a highly suggestive comment about the proximity of their rooms.

Fleur simply ignored the comment and walked straight into her room, slamming the door on her sister who had an impish smile on her face. Harry also walked in his room which was sparsely furnished. A bed sat in one corner with a desk and chair across from it with bookshelves lining one of the walls. Harry didn't bother to unpack what he had brought, he simply fell onto the bed and drifted into sleep.

The following weeks progressed in much the same way, Harry and Fleur would take long walks through the flower garden and the grapevines while Gabrielle teased Fleur about Harry in French, never realizing that Harry as well knew perfect French. Once the school year was about to begin the Delacours took Harry with them to the main shopping district in magical Paris for the books they would need that year.

Before Harry knew it they were standing before Chateau Beauxbatons. Beauxbatons was breathtaking, with the soaring archways and intricately carved stone walls. Gabrielle had already sprinted off with the other excited first years leaving Harry and Fleur to walk with all the others. Harry could feel everyone staring at the two of them and could hear people whispering about them. Harry was about to do something but Fleur grabbed his arm in an implied message of shut up. Looking at her Harry could see a smile on her face, but it wasn't the warm smile that could make him go light headed, this was the smile of indifference she had when she was around others. Harry immediately decided that he hated that smile, hated how wound up she acted with others.

Once they arrived in the great hall Harry and Fleur looked for Gabrielle but couldn't find her in their cursory glance so they both just sat down in the back corner, away from the others. Few of the teachers had arrived yet and all the students were sitting around the tables. Harry saw one of the students from across the hall stood and looked at both of them with a sneer on his face.

He then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loud as he could, "Hey look everybody! I guess the veela whore managed to ensnare another guy!" He said. Harry looked towards Fleur and despite the mask of indifference he could see the pain in her eyes. "Hey you!" The kid was addressing Harry now, "How many different people has she slept with behind your back?!" The pain in Fleur's eyes deepened and as the kid drew breath to say more Harry knew he had to act. Harry's mind went on autopilot and before he realized what he was doing he sent a knife spinning across the room, light reflecting off of it as it flew towards its target.

 **A/N At the end I tried to add a little something in terms of excitement to make up for the boring chapter this inevitably was. If this chapter bored you to tears then I am sorry, I'll work on a way to hand you a tissue through my computer. I couldn't come up with a good title for this chapter so I left it blank, if any of you have a brilliant idea of what it should be then let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4: Beauxbatons

**A/N There were some worries that I was progressing the romance too fast so I will go ahead and say that Fleur and Harry at this point are just friends. Their interactions (walking through the orchards) to me is simply the two trying to get to know each other as Fleur may one day have to place her life into Harry's hand and vice versa. Also when things are in France all of those scenes are technically in French, I think I mentioned last chapter that Harry could speak French. I just wanted to make that clear to all of you. Other than that there is nothing really for me to address so enjoy the next chapter.**

Chapter 4

The knife seemed to move in slow motion as it travelled across the hall. Harry could see every reflection of the lights in the room the blades' movement caused. He could see the flash of fear that flitted across the boy's face when he realized that he would not be able to avoid the knife. Harry watched as the knife hit his target's shoulder, its momentum almost knocking him out of his chair. Everyone including what few teachers were present sat in a stunned silence, trying to make sense of what just happened. Those that sat near the one who had been hit with the knife rose from their seats, drawing their wands. It was this precise moment that the towering double doors of the great hall flew open and the remaining teachers stormed in with a massive woman who easily stood 10-feet tall leading them.

"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded, eyes roaming across the great hall.

"The new kid did it!" One the students with his wand drawn said. The woman who according to Fleur must have been Madame Maxine glared at Harry, anger evident on her face.

"Mister Potter, if you and Fleur would be so kind as to come to my office with me. Teachers make sure nothing else happens while I'm gone." Maxine promptly left the room with Harry and Fleur having to run to keep up with the larger woman's strides. They soon arrived at a door to Maxine's office, "Wisdom." Maxine said in French causing the door to swing outward, granting them entrance.  
Maxine sat down at her desk with a sigh and gestured toward the seats arranged in front of her desk. Maxine's eyes never left Harry as he took his seat and they continued to remain on him for several minutes. Harry never flinched and simply returned her gaze.

"Would you like to explain to me why I walked into my great hall only to see you injure one of my students with a knife?" Maxine asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"He was saying degrading things about Fleur and I could tell she didn't like it so I stopped him." Harry said it like it was the most obvious thing ever and Harry could see Maxine's annoyance grow.

"Unless I'm mistaken your duty is to protect her from physical harm. Am I mistaken?"

"You are not, however as she has become my friend I will not tolerate her coming to emotional harm either." Once Harry had said this he glanced at Fleur wondering what her reaction would be. He could see a slight smile and felt a wave of relief flood through him, despite spending a large amount of time with her he still had had the nagging doubt that she might see him calling her his friend to be a stretch.

Looking back to Maxine he could see a broad smile on her face. "It is good to see that my favorite student finally has a friend who will stick up for her." Maxine then addressed Fleur, "You may return to your dormitory now, I need a few more words with Harry here." Maxine didn't say anymore until the door had closed behind Fleur. "I do truly appreciate your actions, Fleur is my favorite student and CLaude has been picking on her ever since she rejected him in their fourth year."

Her answer confused Harry, he felt that she should be a little bit more worried about the safety of her students and voiced his opinion. "Why do you seem so happy about this?"

"Because for six years she has had nobody to turn to, nobody she could count on for help and now you are here and you are the exact person she has been needing." Maxine explained giving Harry a slightly clearer picture of Fleur's earlier years at Beauxbatons.

"But won't there be problems with what happened?" HArry asked.

"Oh believe me there will be major issues. The boy you threw the knife at, his name is Claude and he is the son of one of the most powerful and influential people in all of France." Maxine explained as she stood and began to pace behind her desk. "I will be forced to punish you severely for this mainly so I don't lose my position as headmistress." Maxine continued to pace as she pondered what to about the situation. "I know just what to do." She said as she bent over her desk to write something on a piece of parchment. "Since Fleur was technically next to you and did nothing to stop you I can say she conspired with you and I can give both of you detention with me every Wednesday night. This way you get punished and you won't have to leave Fleur alone and susceptible to retribution when you are with me."

"Are you sure Fleur is going to like this?" Harry thought the plan was a solid plan but he still had his misgivings about it.

"Don't worry about it. From what Fleur tells me she barely studies and spends most her time avoiding her fellow students anyway so that won't be a problem." Maxine said trying to reassure Harry.

"And what will be a problem?"

Maxine looked up from her parchment and tried to formulate an answer. "If anything Fleur won't like the fact that during detention she won't be able help Gabrielle if she runs into trouble."

"But won't she need to get used to the idea of leaving Gabrielle? I mean once Fleur leaves for the Triwizard Tournament Gabrielle will be on her own for several months." Maxine took a moment to take in what Harry just said.

"That is true, I didn't really think about that." Maxine picked up the parchment from her desk and waved it in the air to make the ink dry. "Speaking of the Triwizard Tournament, since you were the one to actually throw the knife I am going to have to give you a harsher punishment and prohibit you from going." Harry began to protest but Maxine held her hand up for silence. "I know the tournament is the main reason you were hired, however since you are technically too young you wouldn't go with us anyway. So what I and your teachers have decided is that we will 'accidentally' leave the carriage we will be taking to Hogwarts unlocked and you will simply sneak in." Maxine said using air quotes when she said 'accidentally'.

Harry smirked when he realized just how perfect the plan was, simple yet deceptive at the same time. "I think that will work out quite well Madame Maxine."

"Then that will be all Mister Potter." Harry rose and walked to the door. When he placed his hand on the doorknob Maxine called out to him. "And Harry, make sure Fleur stays safe. She may think she can protect herself but I always fear the worst when it comes to her."

"It is my duty and honor to do so Madame." Harry said as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway outside her office. The first thing he noticed was that Fleur was sitting across the hall from the door.

"Took you two long enough in there." She said as she began to walk next to Harry. "What did she want to say to you." Harry explained the plan about the detentions and him sneaking onto the carriage heading for Hogwarts, purposefully leaving out the details about Maxine telling him about Fleur's lack of friends in Beauxbatons.

Once Harry finished telling her about the meeting Fleur remained in silence for several minutes as she thought about what she had just been told. "I see no reason this plan won't work save for Claude's father demanding further punishment."

"What about Gabrielle? Won't you be worried about her being on her own?" Harry asked.

"I have already thought about this due to the Tournament. Madame Maxine's plan simply means that I will have to show Gabrielle all my favorite hiding places sooner rather than later."

Fleur stopped once they reached a long and wide hallway with seven doors on each side. "All the dormitories are on this hall." She explained, "Boys are on the right and girls are on the left. The age of each room starts with the oldest and each door down is a year younger so you will want the fourth door on the right." With that Fleur left him and entered the door to their immediate left. Walking down the hallway Harry tried to open the door Fleur specified but found it locked and couldn't open it.

"You will need to speak the password to enter." Turning around Harry saw another kid who was about his age standing behind him.

"I'm sorry I'm new here so I didn't know that." When Harry said that the kid's eyes grew wide.

"So you're the guy that hit Claude in the shoulder with a knife?" He asked as his eyes grow wide in astonishment.

"Yeah that's me." Harry meekly responded, not liking the obvious admiration the boy was showing him.

"You're a complete hero to a lot of the younger students in the school right now. Almost everybody except Claude's friend hate him because he's a complete asshole who thinks he owns the school." He said as he said the password to the door loud enough for Harry to hear it for future reference. Walking in Harry could see the room they entered served as a common room for doing homework and socializing. "You know when I entered my room today I wondered whose bags were on our extra bed but I must say, I don't think we could have gotten a cooler roommate." The kid continued to prattle on as the ascended the stairs to another hallway with doors. The kid walking with Harry led him to a door close to the stairs on the left and walked through the doorway.

Upon entering Harry could see four four-poster beds arranged around the room and two of them held boys lounging around on them. "Guess who our mystery roommate is guys." THe kid with Harry announced. "It's that new kid who hit Claude with the knife." This really seemed to get their attention as both kids got out of their beds to more closely inspect Harry.

"I guess introductions falls to me then." Said a kid who despite his relatively young age already had the beginnings of a beard growing on his face. "I'm Warren." He said with an accent that pointed towards a German heritage. "That kid over there is Curtis." Warren pointed to the other previous occupant of the room who had blonde hair that was so pale it was almost white. "And that overly talkative kid who brought you here is Odieux." Harry thought Odieux's name was quite fitting as it literally meant obnoxious in French.

"I'm Harry." He said to finish the introductions.

"The bed with the bags on it is yours." Curtis said before returning to his bed and the book he was reading before Harry's arrival. Harry walked over to what was to be his bed and looked through his bags to make sure he had everything he had brought. Satisfied that he had everything Harry changed into his nightwear and promptly fell asleep and succumbed to his dreams, tired after such a long day.

Line Break

Harry could feel the grass sliding under him as he slithered through the tall grass that surrounded the ancestral home of his master. He could smell a human that he had never smelt before enter the house and he knew that the human must be an intruder. Gliding up the stairs to where he knew what was left of his master sat he soon came across the man as he stood in the doorway, listening to the conversation in the room.

"Are you sure that he is at Beauxbatons now?" Came the slithering voice that was her master's.

"I am absolutely sure of it, my son assured me that he heard the veela girl call him Harry Potter." Said one of the men that stood before his master.

"Then we will have to change our plans accordingly. If you are lying to me Louis then not even the Durand fortune and power can protect you from my wrath." His master warned Louis.

"I assure you my lord Voldemort that my son Claude is certain of this knowledge. He said that if Potter's reaction to his taunts of the veela reveal anything than we should be able to use her against Potter." Louis said.

"Thank you for this information, now leave." A soft crack signalled Louis' departure. Seeing that the meeting was over he decided to speak.

" _Nagini, anything to report?"_ Voldemort said in his parseltongue.

" _Yes, there is a man who has listened to this entire meeting standing outside the door."_ He felt himself say.

"Peter, kill our friendly observer." Voldemort ordered. From his spot on the ground he could see the green flash of the killing curse and then nothing.

Harry woke up gasping for breath and in a cold sweat. He groped for his glasses and when he found then and put them on he looked up to see his roommates gathered around him.

"You alright there Harry?" Warren asked as he looked down on with worry written all over his face.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bad dream is all."

"Well that was one hell of a nightmare then." Curtis said.

"I get them all the time it's nothing to worry about." Harry lied. The others returned to their beds to go to sleep but Harry sat there and realized that Sirius and Remus would need to know about this first thing tomorrow morning. Before Harry realized sleep had reclaimed him except this time there were no dreams.

 **A/N So in case you were wondering about that little dream thing, I forgot exactly how JKR wrote those scenes since it's been about 4 years since I've read the books but I do remember that in the OoTP he has that thing where he is Nagini as he attacks Arthur so I kind of modelled this dream after that one. Let me know what you think about this one the next chapter will be out soon but with enough reviews I may be enticed into writing the next chapter faster.**


	5. Chapter 5: Fighting is Always the Answer

**A/N Sorry for the late update. I really liked the feedback I got from last chapter it's just the combination of taking the ACT yesterday, annoying family obligations, and cramming a 350k word fanfic into less than 5 days really made finding time to write this difficult. I will try to make this chapter longer than the usual length for you guys so enjoy.**

Chapter 5

Harry woke up to see Odieux standing directly over him, inspecting him like a curious insect he had found on the grounds outside.

"No dreams this time?" He asked. Harry only nodded in response and swung his legs over to stand up. When he went to stand he could feel his legs protesting the movement. Harry straightened up with a groan of discomfort.

"I'm not surprised you're a little sore, you were thrashing around pretty bad last night while you were having the nightmare." Warren said without looking up from the book he was reading.

"Need any help getting down to breakfast?" Curtis asked.

"No but I need to get to the owlery so I guess I'll see you at breakfast then." Harry grabbed his cloak and left the room. Despite the relatively early hour in the morning many of the students already up and wandering the halls towards breakfast. Some of the students sent glares promising pain towards him while others looked like they were tempted to kiss the ground he walked upon. One thing they all did though was stare. Living in relative isolation his entire life Harry wasn't accustomed to all the attention he got. Even last night in the great hall it hadn't been so bad due to Maxine quickly whisking him away.

Harry quickened his pace to be out of the residency hall. A few minutes later Harry had entered the owlery had saw his owl standing by the window. Relieved that Hedwig had found his way into the owlery Harry quickly stopped to write his letter to Remus.

 _Voldemort has a spy at Beauxbatons_

 _My cover is potentially compromised_

 _Assistance not needed at this time_

 _Voldemort has at least one follower_

 _His name is Peter._

He didn't know if the last line would mean anything to Remus but he decided to leave it anyway. Harry tied the note to Hedwig's leg and Hedwig took off without Harry telling her where to go, she knew him that well. Hedwig's departure caused a single feather the come loose and Harry picked it up and examined the feather that like all others was a shade of black darker than the darkest night. Tucking the feather inside his cloak Harry went back to his dorm to change into the standard issue Beauxbatons robes.

When Harry entered the great hall for breakfast all conversation stopped and everyone returned to staring at him. Harry saw Fleur and Gabrielle sitting in a corner and quickly made his way over to them, conscious of the fact that everyone's eyes followed him.

"Morning ladies." Harry said as he sat next to Fleur and across from Gabrielle with his back facing the rest of the students. Just as he reached for the food he could see Gabrielle tense as she looked at something right behind him. Turning around Harry could see a man with dark brown hair and a closely trimmed goatee walking towards him with anger and contempt evident in his features.

"How can I help you today?" Harry asked when the man stopped and stood barely an arm's length away from Harry.

The man merely stood there glowering down at Harry for nearly a full minute before he spoke, "My name is Louis Durand, and I am here for reparations for your actions against my son." When he said this it all clicked inside Harry's mind. Here before him stood the man he had seen in his dream, the name and the fact he had a son at Beauxbatons all seemed to conform with what he had heard last night.

Harry quickly began to try and find a way for this knowledge to benefit him. "And why should I care about who you are?" Harry asked, trying to buy time.

Louis' face turned a worryingly deep shade of red. "You foolish idiot, you dare speak that way to me? Me, one of France's most powerful men, and if you dare insult me one more time I will ruin you." Louis barely managed to sputter his threat out.

Harry finally had a plan in mind and knew he would have to act fast for it to work. "Go home Louis before I embarrass who in front of everyone here." He said. Harry could see the veins in his neck and forehead bulging.

Harry could feel a soft hand on his bicep and heard Fleur whisper in his ear. "Harry you need to stop, you don't want him as an enemy." Harry glanced at the nervous expression on her face and decided that he could simply enact his plans later.

However due to Fleur's intervention Louis noticed her for the first time since coming in. "So this is the veela whore my son spoke about." He said with a sneer. Harry could feel his entire body tensing up and Fleur with her hand still on his arm quickly squeezed it to try and make him calm down. "I can't believe she is allowed in this school when the only place filth like her belong is in chains serving proper purebloods."

When he said this Harry could feel pure anger coursing through him and the edges of his vision went red with rage.

Harry could feel Fleur grabbing his arm harder than ever, "Don't do this Harry, don't get yourself in trouble again."

"Fleur you're my friend and I won't let this asshole go and say things like that about you."

Fleur had smile on her face when he said that, "Thank you Harry but don't do this, he is not worth your time."

Harry could slowly feel his anger dying down from her reassurances. "Leave now Louis, or else just like your son you'll find out how accurate I am with throwing knives, except this time I'm to close to miss." Harry said as he turned back to his table to eat grabbing a croissant from the platter in front of him.

"You dare threaten me boy!" Louis said from behind him and Harry could feel a hand on his shoulder forcing him to face Louis. The next thing Harry felt was a sharp stinging pain across his left cheek. Looking at Louis he could see that the man had taken off one of his gloves and slapped him with it. Gasps could be heard throughout the great hall as the implications of what just happened sank in.

"Mr. Potter, I, the head of the House of Durand, challenge you to an honor duel." Louis said with a predatory grin.

Despite abandoning his plan to goad Louis into a duel Harry was pleasantly surprised about the challenge. "And I, the head of the House of Potter accept your challenge."

"Absolutely not!" Maxine voice could be heard bellowing above the excited chatter the had spread like wildfire throughout the assembled students. "There will be no duel upon these grounds and I certainly do not allow you to partake in this duel Mr. Potter."

"Harry what the hell are you thinking? He is the head of one of the wealthiest families and one of the most accomplished duelists in France!" Fleur said. "You can't do this!"

"I have to Fleur, if I back out now I lose all honor and all the assets of my family." Harry said.

"I know how the rules work, but as a minor you can still back out and lose nothing." Fleur said trying to end his hairbrained scheme.

"Who says I want to back out." Harry replied with a slight smirk.

By now Maxine had made her way over to the two of them. "Harry I can not allow this to happen. As your headmistress I will fight in your stead if I must."

"Ha! As if you can stand up to me in a duel you stupid half-breed." Louis said with a sneer, and Maxine went rigid when he said this.

"Madame Maxine, this is my fight and I can handle this. I have been doing this my entire life." Harry then addressed Fleur in a whisper, "I'm not during this purely for honor, when we are alone I can tell you the true reason behind this."

Maxine placed a large hand on Harry's shoulder and leaned in to tell him something and in a soft voice she said, "Kick his ass Harry, nobody insults me and Fleur like that." She then strode to a spot in between Harry and where Louis had walked, obviously she wanted to be the supervisor for the duel.

"I know I can't do anything to stop this but Harry," She waited until his eyes met hers before continuing. "Don't. Lose." She then stood on her tiptoes and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Good luck." She said as she turned left to sit where she was before the confrontation.

With butterflies in his stomach due to Fleur Harry walked over to the space Maxine had cleared for the duel. A circular opening in the great hall had been cleared and Maxine erected a protective dome around Harry, Louis, and herself with students crowded around the edge to see the fight. The three met in the middle so Maxine could go over the rules.

"Alright you two, since Harry is a minor this duel will not be to the death but until one of you can no longer fight. As such all unforgivables are not allowed. Try not to kill each other." Maxine then walked to where she would spectate the duel outside the shield.

"Hey Potter," Louis said as Harry had begun to walk to his assigned spot. "While this isn't to the death I am afraid that accidents do happen at times."

"Indeed they do Mr. Durand, just pray I don't accidentally remove your miserable head from its' shoulders." A flash of anger appeared across Louis' face only to disappear as he put up a calm facade.

The two walked to their designated spots and faced each other while waiting for Maxine to start the duel.

"Begin!" She yelled as the students cheered in anticipation.

"Confrigo!" Louis yelled as he cast a spell Harry had never heard of. Not knowing what to expect from the spell Harry conjured a wooden plank in front of himself to defend against the spell. Harry didn't see the effect of the spell until he noticed a hole slowly being created in the center of the wood as what must have been an acid curse ate its' way through the wood. Through the hole Harry saw Louis cast another spell, this time a dark cutting curse. Harry rolled out of the way and began to launch attacks of his own.

He began with a simple banishing spell followed quickly by stunning spells and the disarming spell. Louis simply put up a silvery shield in front of himself and laughed at Harry's relatively weak spells. At this one moment Harry knew that his plan had worked, his opponent completely underestimated him and that would be his downfall.

Harry continued to play the role of a helpless and weak student in this duel as he Louis play with him and waited for the perfect moment to strike. Harry would attempt to dodge every spell while only putting enough energy in his shields to barely defend against the spells he couldn't avoid, all the while he was casting the weak jinxes that would be expected of a fourteen year old student.

Louis halted his casting and again laughed at what he assumed was a weak and arrogant student. "You fool, you should have never challenged me."

"No speaking outside of saying spells Mr. Durand." Maxine said with an exasperated and depressed sigh.

Louis simply rolled his eyes at Maxine and began with an exaggerated motion to cast the blasting curse. Seeing his opportunity Harry wordlessly put as much power as he possibly could behind a cutting curse that was borderline dark. Louis' eyes went wide at the power behind the spell and threw up the strongest shield he could must in the short time he had.

Harry's cutting curse cut through the shield like a hot knife through butter and struck Louis in the chest, throwing him to the ground. From what Harry could see his spell had opened up a wound from Louis' right shoulder all the way to his left hipbone. BLood poured out of the wound as the healers rushed forward to try and save Louis. All the students stood in stunned silence as Harry simply walked over to Fleur and Gabrielle, grabbed his croissant from earlier, and sat down to eat breakfast next to a wide-eyed Gabrielle and a worried Fleur.

"Is he, is he dead?" Gabrielle asked with a trembling voice.

Harry leveled his gaze towards her, "As Mr. Durand once told me, accidents happen."

 **A/N originally I was going to end it here but I promised y'all a chapter days ago and didn't come through for you so this one will be longer as consolation for you guys ;)**

Gabrielle just looked at him in shock while Fleur snorted next to him, all three were oblivious to the utter chaos that was going on behind them as it was pronounced that Louis Durand, the Head of House Durand, was dead.

"Harry!" Maxine called out to him as she rushed over. "Harry, we need you here while the French aurors investigate the death, once that is over I will allow you and Fleur to go to Gringotts Paris to settle the affairs of the Durand family as control passes over to you now." Maxine said once she reached the three of them.

"Very well Madame Maxine." Harry said as rose and walked over to a man in French auror robes who was obviously waiting on him.

"Oh and Harry!" Maxine called out to him, "Damn good job in that duel, you had us all worried for a while there."

"Mr. Potter please come here and sit down." The auror said. "My name is Auror Ferdinand, now tell me exactly what happened.

Harry then told him everything he knew about Louis' death. When he was down the auror looked up from the notes he had taken about what Harry had said.

"What you said matches up with everything everyone else said, Louis simply couldn't stop a cutting curse. You are free to go Mr. Potter, Louis' death was a tragic accident and you will not be held responsible." With his interrogation over Harry walked over to where Fleur stood waiting.

"I take it that you are a free man now." Fleur said.

"Obviously, if I wasn't then I would be in chains right now."

"Whatever, we need to go to Gringotts and then you are going to tell why you entered a duel with one of France's most powerful men." Fleur said as she walked over to where Beauxbatons' floo station was. Taking a pinch of floo powder Fleur threw it in the fire and stated their destination. Both of them walked through and were soon standing in the entrance hall of Gringotts Paris.

"Let me do the talking." Harry said as he strode to the first open bank teller he saw. "May your gold be ever plentiful." He said to the goblin teller who looked at him in surprise along with several other unoccupied tellers.

"And may your business never fail." The goblin responded and finishing the traditional goblin greeting. "How may I help you today?"

"Today in an honor duel I defeated Louis Durand and I am here to claim access to the Durand vaults." Goblin looked even more shocked at Harry's claim than before.

"Please place a drop of blood on this parchment to confirm your identity and your claim to the Durand vault." The goblin said. Harry made a small incision on his finger with a cutting curse and allowed a drop to splash onto the parchment. The goblin took the parchment and begin to read the script that had appeared on it. "Very well Mr. Potter please accompany me to our Branch Manager."

The goblin left his seat only for a new goblin to replace him. Harry and Fleur followed him through an impressive set of golden double door that stood at the back of the bank. The goblin led them through the hallways until stopping before a door with Branch Manager carved into it. "Manager Duvon will speak with you now."

The two of them walked through the door to see a goblin seating in a high-backed chair that faced several other chair arranged around his desk. Harry and the goblin exchanged the traditional greeting before Harry and Fleur seated themselves in front of the goblin.

"Rumors of Mr. Durand's death have spread quickly Mr. Potter, the Goblin Nation thanks you. Louis Durand was always a major thorn in our side when it came to business dealings." Duvon said as another goblin brought in a file folder filled to the brim with papers. "This all holdings the Durand family had as of this morning." Duvon said as he pulled out a single piece of paper. "As you can see the Durands had amassed a large fortune along with many fine properties."

Harry could hear Fleur's gasp as she looked upon all that Harry had gained. The amount of money he acquired was nearly twice that of the Delacour fortune. "I trust that recently a shared vault was established here under the names of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Harry Potter?" Harry asked as he looked towards Duvon for the answer.

"Yes, while holding a trifling amount there is a joint vault under those name here." Duvon explained. "Or if you wish you and your mate may open a new account under yourselves." Harry and Fleur both felt a slight blush rise to their faces due to the goblin's suggestion.

"Fleur is not my mate, I am simply tasked with guarding her life for the coming year." Harry said as he continued to look through the Durand file. Coming to a decision Harry addressed the Branch Manager. "I want enough money for Louis' widow to live comfortably and a single property to be left for her and I want all money and properties to put under the Lupin-Black-Potter joint vault." The goblin nodded with Harry's wishes and wrote the order down on a piece of parchment which was quickly whisked away by another goblin. "I believe that concludes our business today, may your enemies cower at your feet."

"And may you show them no mercy." Duvon said with a toothy grin.

The two of them left the bank and explored the magical part of Paris for a while as Fleur usually skipped classes anyway and Harry had to go with her.

"So when did you learn goblin customs so well?" Fleur asked him as they sat down at a cafe for lunch.

"My training isn't limited to just how to kill people." Harry replied.

"So tell me why did you accept the duel?" Fleur asked as the calm expression she had been keeping shattered and Harry was shown just how angry she was about it.

Harry cast several silencing charms around their table before beginning his explanation. "Listen Fleur, last night I had a dream. In that dream a man named Louis Durand spoke to an English dark lord." Fleur looked shocked as this revelation. "In that dream I was able to figure out that Louis and more specifically his son are spies for said dark lord inside of Beauxbatons. When he told me his name this morning in the great hall I knew that I would have to find a way to neutralize him as part of my job." As Harry finished his explanation their food arrived and the ate in silence as Fleur went over what Harry has said in her mind.

"Alright I forgive you for taking such drastic measures but never again will you fight someone purely because they said something mean about me being a veela." Fleur said once they had finished their lunch.

"Fleur you and I both know I can't promise you that."

"Please, you are my friend as well and I'm tired of watching you fight and risk yourself over some ill-meaning words someone said." Fleur said as she tried her best puppy dog eyes on Harry.

Harry tried to resist but nobody had ever resisted her when she did that. "Fine." He muttered. "We need to be getting back to Beauxbatons now anyway." Harry said as he left several galleons on the table and strode back towards the apparition point in the alley. Fleur ran to catch up with him, her victorious smirk never leaving her face.

 **A/N Easily the longest chapter I've ever written and by a fairly large margin, hope this is a good atonement for lying to you guys, I really appreciated all the reviews last time. Currently I have no other fanfics to read so I should be able to write pretty soon, however if this chapter gets absolutely no reviews then I guess I can find something to read and will take my sweet time with Ch. 6, after all there are only 760k HP stories on this site. :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Arrival

**A/N After only 5 chapters this story has 100+ favs, 200+ alerts, and 10k views which makes this story the fastest one I've ever had to reach those numbers. Thanks for being so awesome you guys :). Chapter 6 here and this one should take us all the way to when the champions are announced. I will personally not add in the french accents to the dialogue, if it really annoys you then you can imagine that it's there. As always enjoy…**

Chapter 6

As the days after Harry's duel turned into weeks, Harry had noticed how seemingly the entire school had taken sides. Nearly all the half-bloods and muggleborns had taken Harry's side while all the purebloods flocked towards Claude. Despite Harry claiming all the Durand wealth save for the small amount he left for Louis' widow, Claude remained a highly influential figure in the school. Only the muggleborn first-years remained neutral, and that was mainly because they had only been in the wizarding world for several months and didn't fully understand the conflict like their peers did.

Fortunately despite the heated tensions, nobody progressed further than words when the issue of blood supremacy came up. Only Fleur, Gabrielle, and Harry were left alone by Claude's group for fear of Harry's reprisal. They weren't completely spared from the hostilities though as all the purebloods sent him scathing glares whenever he passed them in the hall. These never bothered Harry or Fleur and they were both content to simply ignore them.

When it became October and time for the Beauxbatons carriage to leave for Hogwarts Maxine had called Harry and Fleur into her office to go over the details of how Harry would sneak into the carriage. The plan had been executed flawlessly and Harry managed to sneak through the door that Maxine had left unlocked for Fleur who was late for the departure. Harry had had to stay in the storage compartment of the carriage but that was a minor inconvenience since the flight barely took an hour.

Only once the carriage landed on the makeshift runway did the representatives of Beauxbatons realize the subterfuge.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Claude asked, bewilderment and anger evident in his features. "He's too young to be here! We need to send him back!"

"Silence Monsieur Claude, while I can not approve of Harry's actions I see no reason to send him back at this point." Maxine said reprimanding her student.

Claude's face skipped straight over the color red and became purple with anger. Silence reigned throughout the group except for the occasional mutterings amongst the group until they reached the massive front doors of the castle. Almost as if the door could sense their approach they swung inwards once the group arrived opening to a large hall with a grand staircase leading towards the upper levels of the school. Much to the surprise of the students the staircases on the upper levels could at times be seen moving.

Waiting for them inside was an elderly looking witch with completely grey hair. "Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Minerva McGonagall and in a moment I will lead you to our great hall but I first must ask if it is true that Harry Potter travelled with you."

Maxine had a frown on her face, annoyed with the breach in etiquette but more concerned about how McGonagall knew about Harry. "How do you know oh this professor."

"I had assumed that based on the duel in your school a little over a month ago that despite his age he is one of your better students and that he would be brought along." She explained.

When she said this Fleur and Maxine shared a nervous look, worried about how Harry's secret presence had already been discovered. "His presence or lack thereof is of no concern to you as he is too young to compete anyway." Maxine said in a tone that brooked to argument from the elderly witch. Seeming to have accepted Maxine's answer, McGonagall motioned for them to follow her and she proceeded to lead them to the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

When they came before another impressive set of doors McGonagall addressed them again. "You will enter in five minutes. When you do, you may have any entrance you wish but you will have to sit at the Ravenclaw table." She then slipped through the doors leaving the Beauxbatons students alone. Harry could feel a hand grab his shoulder and turned around to see Fleur who told him to come with her and talk to Maxine.

"You two will remain with me behind the students." She explained to the two of them, "Now Harry I need a word with you before we go in there." She gave a pointed look to Fleur which silently told her to leave until they were done.

Once Fleur was out of earshot Maxine turned to face him. "Listen Harry, I know you probably already realize this but I am going to say it again for you." When Harry gave a confused nod Maxine continued, "Remember in Britain there are virtually no laws protecting veela even from more degrading actions." Maxine said with a look of pure loathing and disgust on her face. "Also in Britain unlike France, purebloods have complete and total power so you will have to show more restraint than you did with the Durands."

"It will be fine Madame, I am aware of the laws and Fleur also made me promise not to kill someone again over some harsh words." Harry said to reassure Maxine.

Maxine had the slightest smirk on her face from Harry's words. "Just please do your best to protect her, she has always been one of my favorite students."

The doors barely opened again to admit the head of McGonagall, "You may enter the Great Hall now." She said before closing the doors again. The doors had barely been closed for fifteen seconds before the opened again, except this time they opened all the way allowing the Beauxbatons students to see the Great Hall for the first time. Fleur had quickly made her way over to Harry and Maxine as the students began to walk in.

Once inside Harry could see several hundred students inside all staring at the new arrivals. He could see everyone's eyes searching the Beauxbatons students, clearing looking to see if the rumors of his presence were true. Then everyone's gaze landed on the three confidently walking in the back. The first of the three that everyone noticed was the half-giant who walked in the middle. Once the students of Hogwarts allowed their eyes to drop from the lofty height of Maxine they noticed the two others with her. All the boys in the room noticed Fleur on Maxine's left and Harry could see Fleur's allure gradually begin to turn almost all the boys in the Great Hall into a drooling state. The others that were not enthralled by Fleur's veela allure noticed the final member of the group, excited whispers spread throughout the hall as they tried to determine who the other student worthy of entering with the headmistress was. More often than not Harry could his name being said by many throughout they as they progressed towards the staff table on the other side of the Great Hall.

When all of them were assembled before the staff table a man with a beard that fell all the way to his waist stood to speak. Harry knew from the descriptions given to him by Remus and Sirius that this was Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Remus and Sirius had already warned Harry of Dumbledore's manipulative ways and knew to be on alert whenever he spoke with the man.

"Students, let us give a warm round of welcome to the students of Beauxbatons." He said to the assembled Hogwarts students. Those few who weren't under the effects of Fleur's allure or trying to determine Harry's identity gave a half-hearted cheer. Maxine directed her students to the Ravenclaw table where they had been assigned and joined Dumbledore at the teacher's' table.

Harry and Fleur chose a seat at the end where they could be away from the other students from both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. Despite having allies amongst those Maxine brought to Hogwarts, Harry and Fleur both always preferred to sit alone where Fleur's allure wouldn't affect anyone. Harry distinctly remembered the first day that his roommates had joined hima and Fleur at breakfast one day only for the three of them to become enthralled like all the rest.

The two had been sitting down for only a few minutes before the doors of the Great Hall opened all the way again to admit the students of Durmstrang. With all of them dressed in their fur coats and each carrying a solid wooden staff, the Durmstrang students gave the appearance of pure intimidation. Behind the large group of students two additional men walked in. One he knew would be Igor Karkaroff, an old Death Eater from the first war who acquired his innocence by selling out his fellow Death Eaters. Another round of excited whispers swept through the all as the students determined the identity of the lone student with Karkaroff. Harry listened in on a group of students who kept calling him Victor Krum. Not recognizing the name Harry returned his attention to the various students in the Great Hall.

Once everyone was seated Dumbledore rose once more. "Today we welcome the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to our humble school for an event that will grant everlasting fame to the victor." Dumbledore smiled down with a twinkle in his eye upon the students in the hall who began to wonder what event he was referring to. Fleur and Harry were the only students not caught up in the wave of curiosity as Maxine had already told them everything they needed to know about the tournament. It had originally started when Maxine asked the two of them to come to her office to ask Fleur to sign up for the tournament. Dumbledore motioned towards a large object covered in canvas that a man stood behind. "This year Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament!" With a flourish the man behind the covered item whipped the canvas off, allowing the students in the Great Hall to gaze upon the Triwizard Trophy.

The man then walked over towards Dumbledore to address the crowd. "I am Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of International Cooperation. The Triwizard Tournament had long been a tradition amongst the three best magical schools of Britain. Each school shall have one representative who due to safety concern must be over the age of seventeen." When he said this many of the younger students in the hall went into an uproar.

"That's total rubbish!" He heard two similar voices yell.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore said as he spoke through the sonorous charm. With his intervention the Great Hall quickly became silent again.

"As I was saying," Crouch continued, "the Tournament consists of three tasks that the champions must overcome. The winner shall receive a prize of one-thousand galleons and eternal glory. To enter the tournament you must write your name on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire. However," Crouch became deadly serious at this point, "If you enter and are chosen there is absolutely no backing out, you are in the tournament until you physically can not compete anymore." With his ominous finish Crouch returned to his empty seat that was next to a heavily scarred man with a fake eye that spun around in its metal socket. What unnerved Harry the most about him was that his gaze never left Harry, despite any of the events going on around him.

"To prevent any under-aged wizards from entering I will draw an age line around the cup, you may begin to enter your names once this feast is over." Dumbledore said before he as well returned to a golden seat that sat in the middle of the staff table.

Dumbledore then announced for the feast to begin and instantaneously food appeared on all the tables. Harry could tell that they had tried to mix in cuisine from the countries of the visiting schools as there was a variety of French and Eastern European foods mixed in with the normal Hogwarts food. Looking in front of him Harry could see that all they got was the heavier British food and all the French food had been taken by those further down the table.

"Damn I guess we're stuck with this… stuff." Fleur said as she looked at their food choices with a look of disdain.

Looking around the Great Hall Harry could see an untouched bouillabaisse lying on a table between a boy with flaming red hair and a girl with flowing brunette hair. "I'll go get us some." Harry said as he rose to walk to the table he knew as being the Gryffindor table, the same table his mom and dad would've been sitting at had it been sixteen years ago.

"Excuse me," He said to the two upon arrival, "Are either of you going to eat the bouillabaisse?"

All conversation around him ceased as the Gryffindors realized that the mystery man from Beauxbatons was standing at their table. "And why should we give it to you?" The redhead boy asked with a derisive sneer.

"Ron, shut up." The brunette said with a muted voice that still managed to portray her annoyance with Ron's attitude. She then addressed Harry, "Of course you can have it."

As Harry reached between the two his hair had shifted leaving the girl with a perfect view of his forehead, and his scar.

He could hear a loud gasp coming from her, "You ARE Harry Potter." She said as every eye in the great hall turned to look at him.

 **A/N Yeah so I lied about where this story would end, whoops, apparently I'm not even close to that point yet but at the same time I am kinda close. Before you all jump to conclusions the girl with Ron is NOT Hermione, she has a different role to play in this story than a member of the golden trio that never existed. Next chapter SHOULD be up by Saturday but I can't promise anything so yeah. Let me know what you thought about this chapter, I know it's not exciting and full of action like last chapter was but in some ways these kinds of chapters take even more work than the fun action chapters do.**


	7. Chapter 7: No Rest For the Weary

**A/N Sorry for updating a day(or two depending on when I finish this chapter) late. Yesterday I had some really bad writer's block and just couldn't piece anything together. I can proudly say that I at least got something done and was able to plan all the way through Harry's fourth year and into his fifth year, yay. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter (whenever I can finally finish it :) ).**

Chapter 7

As Harry reached between the two his hair had shifted leaving the girl with a perfect view of his forehead, and his scar.

He could hear a loud gasp coming from her, "You ARE Harry Potter." She said as every eye in the great hall turned to look at him.

Harry could feel the almost palpable weight of everyone's gaze on him, it was almost crushing. At Beauxbatons he could live with the stares he got, he deserved them for his actions against Claude and his father. However here at Hogwarts they stared at him because of a magical incident that happened when he was a baby. They stared this time simply because he was 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'.

He could hear his name spreading through the Great Hall like a wildfire and soon everyone knew just who it was that was the mystery boy from Beauxbatons. Looking first towards Maxine and then towards Fleur, Harry could see similar looks of worry on both women's faces. They had all originally hoped to keep Harry's identity hidden for as long as possible before letting it slowly leak out, obviously that wasn't going to happen now.

"Er… yes I am. Who are you?" Harry asked trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen across the Great Hall.

"Lavender Brown, pleasure to meet you." She said with a sultry smile. Harry had barely noticed her answer though as the redhead stood in front of Harry, his face only inches away. His face had acquired a similar shade to that of his hair as he stood before Harry with his fists clenched and a vein bulging in his neck.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked in a non-confrontational tone, hoping to diffuse the situation. Harry wasn't supposed to get in any confrontations while at Hogwarts so he could retain a more shadowy persona while at Hogwarts and protecting Fleur.

"I ought to kill you right where you stand." He said in voice barely above a whisper, yet Harry could still hear the rage that was bubbling beneath the surface.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Looking beyond the redhead in front of him Harry could see McGonagall making her way towards them from the teachers table.

"It's your fault my father is dead, if it wasn't for you my father would have never had to help you that night, and he would have never been killed by the stupid mutt Lupin." He said with a scowl on his face.

Harry could feel his own anger suddenly start to build inside himself, while it was one thing to insult him it was another to insult the man who had for all purposes become his father.

"Ron Weasley, you will stop this foolish behaviour this instant!" McGonagall said once she had made it over to the two boys. "Ten points from Gryffindor for such foolish behavior. Now sit down and shut up before you embarrass your school any further." She finished with a stern glare towards the boy.

Harry simply reached down to the table and grabbed the French dish before leaving without a second glance towards the enraged Ron. Harry walked back to where Fleur was sitting, still with a worried expression on her face.

"He's still glaring at you right now." She whispered to him as he sat down. Nervous whispers erupted throughout the hall masking anything they said from unwanted listeners.

"Well it would appear that I have for the second time, made an enemy on my first day at a school." Harry said with a slight smirk that drew a brief chuckle from Fleur.

"I'm not sure you should count that as an achievement though." The two sat in companionable silence for the rest of the meal but Harry was still conscious of the stares from nearly every person in the Great Hall.

After the meal Dumbledore stood before the assembled students with a reminder that this time next week they would be determining the champions and any above seventeen would have until the ceremony to enter their names into the Goblet of Fire, which would be placed in the Great Hall the following morning. After being dismissed Harry and Fleur began to walk out to where the Beauxbatons carriage and where would be staying was.

Upon arrival they could see Maxine standing outside the carriage, clearly waiting for them.

"You never cease to amaze me with your uncanny ability for trouble to find you no matter where you go." Maxine said with a smile when the two of them walked up to her. Her smile faded when she turned to address Harry though. "Harry I'm sorry but we must follow the plan and since you aren't supposed to be here we have no where for you to stay so you need to find an unused classroom for your purposes. I'm so sorry but…"

Harry immediately held up a hand signalling her to be quiet, "It will be fine Madame Maxine, I already knew this would happen and I will find accommodation for myself inside the castle."

"Very well then goodnight Harry." Maxine said with a depressed sigh before she turned on her heel and walked up the steps and into the carriage leaving Harry and Fleur alone outside.

"Are you still planning on entering your name to the Goblet tomorrow?" Harry knew it was probably a silly question because she came to England specifically to compete in the tournament.

"You already know I will." She said as Harry slowly nodded in response while looking at the ground in between them.

His eyes rose to meet her and emerald green met the blue of a cloudless summer sky. "Just promise me you'll stay safe, I will help you where I can should you be chosen but I can only do so much."

Fleur gave no response except to smile and give Harry a quick kiss to the cheek. Harry could feel the blush in his cheeks as she did so. "What was that for?"

"For caring so much." She said with a small smile, "Good night Harry." She said as she too entered the carriage.

Harry began to trudge back of to the castle, despite all the planning they had made Harry still had no idea exactly how he was supposed to find somewhere to stay.

Harry had made it all the way inside the school when he could feel hands grabbing him and dragging him into a nearby room. He heard a door close behind him and when the hands released him he immediately drew his wand and pointed it at his kidnappers.

"Calm down ickle Harrikans"

"We simply want to talk"

"We would like to apologize"

"For our brother's silly antics"

"He can be such an annoying prat at times."

Seeing who was talking Harry noticed another boy with the same red hair as the Ron kid from the Great Hall. Turning to face the second voice that was behind him Harry noticed another boy who looked identical to the first one.

"Who the bloody hell are you two?" Harry asked yet said it more as a demand.

"Simple really, I'm Fred." The one behind him and leaning against the doorframe said.

"And I'm George." The other said.

"You probably want to know what we want." Fred said

"It's really simple actually."

Harry's neck was starting to hurt from whiplash due to him turning his head whenever one brother stopped talking and the other began. Harry moved deeper into the room to where he could see both of them while never lowering his wand from the two twins.

"Many in our family hate you." George said.

"We don't however."

"Moody let us watch his memory of the night Remus killed our dad."

"Our fellow family members refused"

"And continue their grudge with you."

"We don't hold anything against you though."

"We've become annoyed with our family recently"

"And today Ron"

"Simply exacerbated our annoyance."

"So we want to help you." Fred said as he finished what the twins wanted to say. Their antics reminded Harry of the muggle ping-pong game with the rapid back and forth manner that they spoke in.

"How can I trust you?" Harry asked as he finally lowered his wand.

"Because we will give you help now with your little lodging problem we couldn't help but overhear you were suffering from."

"I'm listening." Harry said intrigued about how they could help him. "And just one of you answer, don't do that thing where you switch who's speaking in the middle of a sentence."

"As you wish young Harrikans." George said. "On the seventh floor across from the ugly portrait of tap-dancing trolls…" George continued to explain to Harry about the room that could change into whatever the user wanted it to be. Harry's amazement continued to grow as they explained the various things the room was capable of doing. Nothing seemed to be outside of the room's power. "Curfew is coming soon so we have to leave. If you need help with anything, whether it's our annoying brother or quirks about the castle then just ask us,"

"And it will be our pleasure to help you." Fred finished as the two promptly left the room leaving Harry to ponder the information they had given him regarding the Room of Requirement as they called it.

Deciding that he had nothing better to go off of in terms of leads to find somewhere to sleep Harry travelled all the long way to the seventh floor. Harry walked in front of the blank space of wall where instructed three times and while thinking of a bedroom an ornate door appeared before him. Harry walked in and to his amazement found that the room had made a bedroom that was an exact copy of his own room at Remus' hideout in the Pyrenees. Looking around the room Harry saw that nothing was different or missing, even the picture of his parents that Remus had given him was where he had placed it on his nightstand.

As Harry sat on his bed looking at the smiling forms of his parents he saw something moving in his peripheral vision. Looking to his nightstand he saw that a silvery picture frame was forming. Harry's mind instantly made the connection that the silvery color of the picture frame perfectly matched the shade of Fleur's hair. Wary of what the room was creating Harry continued to watch until the entirety of the framed picture had been created.

Harry sat stunned as he looked down upon a picture of Fleur and himself sitting on a picnic blanket. Harry was able to recognize their surroundings and knew that the two of them were sitting in Fleur's favorite spot in the Delacour Manor. It was a hill overlooking both the grapevine orchards and the flower garden and was shaded due to the massive oak tree that stood over them. According to Fleur the oak tree was there even before the Delacours had built their manor hundreds of years ago. In the picture the two of them were holding hands while laughing and smiling with Fleur occasionally giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

'The room shows you what you most desire.' The words of George bounced around his head as Harry sat there mulling over what the room was telling him with this picture. One thing was obvious and that was that Fleur had become what he desired most sice he had come to know her.

Harry was rather surprised at this new revelation, sure Harry knew that Fleur was an absolute stunner and had a small crush on her from the moment he saw her. However apparently that small crush had grown into something more as Harry began to get to know her and learned that she held an inner beauty that rivalled and maybe even surpassed her outer beauty, all without Harry ever realizing it. Looking away from the picture with a slight smile on his face Harry climbed into his bed already worrying about how he should go about this as the situation had definitely become more complicated.

As Harry felt himself falling asleep his last thought was if Fleur would ever reciprocate his feelings despite the obvious age gap between the two.

 **A/N Hurray for me finishing this and only being one day late! Anyways this was the first "fluffy" chapter if you will. I hope I didn't completely butcher things with this chapter and I hope y'all don't think things are being rushed but at the same time they have known each other for about four months now. And yes Harry is acting a little soft and emotional for a mercenary but he still is only fourteen years old and has emotions. Things won't really heat up between the two for a while though so good or bad let me know what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8: Plots and Conspiracies

**A/N Hopefully I was able to catch all grammar mistakes so this chapter should be cleaner than others. Nothing else I need to say here so enjoy…**

Chapter 8

The following morning Harry woke up earlier than normal so he could have time with the room to see the limits of what it could do. First Harry tried to turn it into an exact copy of the Great Hall, the room kept expanding until it suddenly stopped once it was about three quarters of the size of the original Great Hall. Satisfied with the maximum size the room could attain Harry thought of what he wanted next, a personal training area. The room shifted from the Great and dominating the far end of the room was a large arena filled with practice dummies. However what interested Harry the most was the bookshelf that also had appeared next to him. Looking through the selection of books Harry felt his eyes go wide with wonder. Many of the books were books that had considered to have gone missing and several of these were written by the founders themselves.

Harry realized that before him stood a collection of books that likely were more valuable than even the Durand fortune that he had recently acquired. Continuing with his scan of the collection Harry noticed several books on the lowest shelf that were written in a cryptic script that looked unreadable. Concentrating on these few books caused the script flow back into English and looking at the author Harry realized that these must have been written in parseltongue for the author was none other than Salazar Slytherin. Picking up one of Salazar's books that was written about rituals Harry briefly scanned through it until he came across one that caught his eye.

Looking further into the ritual Harry saw that the effects it gave you was that whenever you cast spells your increase in magical power will be greater than what it would be on its own. The increase you gained from the ritual was marginal but the book said that after several months to a year one would notice a significant increase in power compared to what they would gain naturally. Reading further into the ritual revealed that the ingredients were relatively easy to require, the only rare and dangerous ones could be found in a quick to Britain's Knockturn Alley though. The only difficult part Harry saw was the sacrificial requirement. The book had stated earlier that the sacrifice a person gave during a ritual had to be equal to or greater value than the value of what a person acquired through the ritual. Having never attempted a ritual before Harry didn't know the general requirements for rituals but he felt that a ritual this beneficial would require more blood than he could possibly give or would need an item that he held dear to him.

Placing the book on a table text to him and left open on the page that held the ritual Harry looked at a nearby clock that the room had summoned and saw he had only ten minutes until he had to meet Fleur in the entrance hall as they had agreed to last night. After quickly walking down to the entrance hall to see Fleur walking in alone at the same time he arrived.

"Were you able to find somewhere to stay?" Fleur asked with a little bit of worry creeping into her voice.

"I was fine, two Hogwarts students helped me find a place to stay." Harry said with a slight smile due to her concern.

The two walked into the Great Hall to see the Goblet of Fire sitting in the center of the Great Hall and surrounded by a glowing blue line.

"Dumbledore's age line." Fleur commented as they neared the goblet. Harry saw Fleur cast one last look towards him as she threw a piece of paper that Harry knew had her name written on it with her elegant handwriting.

The rest of the day passed without incident as Harry followed Fleur throughout the day, always blending into the crowds and the shadows inside the various classes she was forced to attend. Harry wasn't bothered with the fact that he was skipping classes to do this, there was nothing in the fourth year curriculum for him to learn, and besides, going to class was never the reason why Harry went to both Beauxbatons and Hogwarts.

After Fleur's classes and dinner in the Great Hall the two walked around on the castle's grounds, enjoying the last mild days before the Scottish winter was upon them. They walked until right before curfew when Harry led Fleur back to the carriage. Once Harry was on his own he snuck back into Hogwarts, aware that curfew had already passed and that he would need to avoid everyone inside the school.

After a close call with Filch, Harry made it back to the seventh floor and the Room of Requirement. Harry walked in front of the blank wall three times while thinking about the room he was in last night. Once the door appeared Harry walked in and was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was the training area still there, but all the books were there, even the one Harry had left open on the table.

Leaving the ritual book on the table for future reference should he ever need it, Harry picked up another book written by Godric Gryffindor titled, _Magnifying Your Magick._ Harry sat down in a chair that he requested from the room and began to read. In the early pages of the book Harry read that Godric believed that one could increase their magical power by also increasing their physical power as the two were linked to each other.

Seeing that it was nearing midnight Harry turned all the lights off while thinking about what Godric had stated. Unknown to Harry, an entire weight set had been summoned by the room as he fell asleep.

Upon waking two hours before Harry had to meet Fleur, Harry saw what the room had created overnight and smirked knowing what he would be filling his time with.

The following days passed as such, Harry would wake up two hours before he went to meet Fleur to run around the lake and then go up to the Room of Requirement to lift weights. During the day Harry would follow Fleur away from the public eye, keeping to the shadows, yet ready to spring into action should he need to. After escorting Fleur back to the Beauxbatons carriage at night Harry would go back to the Room of Requirement and from spellbooks the room summoned for him Harry began to learn new, more powerful, spells, several of them darker than Remus would approve of. The only break in what was quickly becoming Harry's routine was in the afternoon of the day Fleur entered her name into the goblet Harry was summoned by Dumbledore to his office.

When this happened Harry asked Fleur if she would come with him to which she agreed to do so. The two trekked their way up to Dumbledore's office and gave the password to the gargoyle at the base of the stairs which for that week happened to be 'gummy worms'. Before the two entered Dumbledore's office at the top of the stairs Harry took a moment to reinforce his occlumency shields as Remus and Sirius had forewarned Harry that when Dumbledore inevitably wanted to speak with Harry, Dumbledore would not be averse to using passive legilimency on Harry.

Fleur gave Harry a nervous look to which Harry simply replied with a slight smile before he opened the door and strode in, Fleur right behind him.

"Ah Harry my boy it is nice to see you." Dumbledore said with a slight twinkle in his eyes. The twinkle quickly faded when his gaze fell upon Fleur though. "However unless I'm mistaken I only requested you Harry, so if Miss Delacour would leave then we may begin."

Harry had read about the spell Dumbledore used to make his eyes twinkle like that and Harry used an overpowered version of it upon himself before replying. "Ah but Dumbledore, surely you know the true reason for my presence in this school. If I leave her alone while being sequestered in your office then I would say that I am not doing my job very well." Harry allowed the twinkle in his eyes to fade when Dumbledore conceded and allowed Fleur to stay in the room during the meeting.

"Very well then," Dumbledore said as he adopted the visage of a disappointed grandfather, something Remus and Sirius both warned Harry about as the two had both succumbed to the appearance before. "First things first, where have you been this past years?" Dumbledore asked.

"Safe." Was the only answer Harry gave.

This answer began the verbal sparring between the two, with Dumbledore trying to pry into Harry's past and with Harry giving only half-truths in response. At one point when Harry could see Dumbledore visibly becoming frustrated Harry felt the telltale signs of passive legilimency. Harry allowed the mental probe to go slightly deeper into his mind before Harry completely crushed it. The only sign of their quick mental struggle was the brief look of pain that crossed Dumbledore's face.

After about an hour in Dumbledore's office Harry and Fleur both stood to leave and began to walk to the door.

"Wait Harry, I have something I need to give you." Dumbledore said and with a look akin to desperation on his face. Dumbledore pulled out a package and placed on the center of his desk for Harry to take it. "It used to belong to your parents, I give it to you now as a gesture of goodwill."

Harry could feel his irritation rising as Dumbledore made his last attempt to sway Harry's opinion of him. "If it belonged to my parents then this is no gift of goodwill but rather a birthright you should have given me the second I walked through the door." As Harry said this he grabbed the package and stormed out of the office, never seeing the look of pure rage on Dumbledore's face.

Only once Harry and Fleur had left did the silent observer in Dumbledore's office reveal himself. "He truly is just as arrogant as his father." The man said with a sneer as he removed the disillusionment charm from himself.

"I'm afraid I must agree with you Severus, it appears that him not living with the Dursleys has caused him not to be the meek, scared child we needed for the plan to work." Dumbledore said while putting his glasses on his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "However not all is lost, are the potions ready?"

"Of course, when will we need the house elves to start placing them in his food?"

"I want the compulsion charms I placed on both Harry and the Weasley boy to take effect and for them to become friends before we use the love potions on Harry and Ginevra. If we time this right Harry will rather stay at Hogwarts next year than go wherever he has been with Remus and Sirius." Dumbledore said as he began to pace the area behind his desk. When he said this Fawkes let out a low mournful cry from his perch on Dumbledore's desk.

"And what of the French girl? She and the Potter brat are becoming close." Severus asked.

"Say, after the selection ceremony, you begin to slip some potions into their food to force them to separate from each other." Dumbledore said as he leaned forward and placed both hands on his desk to stare directly at Snape who stood before him. "If that doesn't do the job then do as you see fit, if you must do so then take advantage of the laws that limit the rights of veela."

The sneer that had been present on Severus' face quickly changed into a lecherous smirk. "As you wish Albus, I'll see myself out now."

Throughout their conversation neither of them noticed that Fawkes had quietly left the room.

The students of the three schools all filtered into the Great Hall where all the tables were arranged around the Goblet of Fire which had been placed in the center of the Great Hall. Excited whispering broke amongst the assembled students as Dumbledore strode up to the Goblet and turned to address everyone in the Great Hall.

"After tonight we shall all know who will be competing in the tournament, I request that if your name is called you proceed through that door and await the others in the antechamber." Dumbledore said as he gestured to a single door behind the teacher's table.

Everyone in the hall was silenced as the normally blue fire turned red and began to grow before shooting a single slip of parchment into the air and returning to its previous state.

Dumbledore snagged the piece of parchment and scanned it before announcing, "Representing Durmstrang is, Viktor Krum!" A bulky man rose from the assembled Durmstrang students and proceeded to the antechamber amidst raucous cheering from his fellow Durmstrang students.

The Goblet flared red again and launched another piece of parchment in the air that looked familiar to Harry. Once Dumbledore caught it Harry fancied that he saw Dumbledore smirk before he announced, "And the Beauxbatons champion is, Fleur Delacour!" Fleur rose and gave him a sad smile before she too proceeded to the antechamber, however instead of applause all Fleur got was the lustful stares of nearly every male, and the hateful glares from many of the females.

Everyone's attention turned away from Fleur as the Goblet turned red for the final time and launched the last piece of paper into the air.

"The Hogwarts champion is, Cedric Diggory!" This name got by far the loudest applause as all the Hogwarts students rose to their feet in a deafening cheer. In the mass hysteria of the Great Hall none save for Harry and Dumbledore noticed the increase in activity coming from the goblet. Once the flames turned red again silence descended upon the Great Hall as every eye looked at the Goblet which had red flames jumping around everywhere. A single tendril of fire rose above the rest and deposited another piece of parchment into Dumbledore's hand.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore said in a voice barely above a whisper yet everyone in the Great Hall heard it and angry mutterings could be heard from every corner of the Great Hall. When Harry didn't rise from his seat Dumbledore said his name again, this time yelling it. "Harry Potter!" Harry rose with a confused look on his face and began the seemingly mile long walk to the antechamber. When he walked past Dumbledore he had the piece of parchment with his name written across it thrust into his hands.

Harry entered the antechamber to see the other three champions standing around a fireplace while silence enveloped them. When they heard the door open signalling Harry's arrival they all gave him questioning looks. "They don't need us to go back do they?" The Cedric boy asked.

"I...I got selected somehow." Harry replied in a weak voice.

Fleur walked over and grabbed his arm, "How did this happen?" She asked yet when Harry began to reply the door to the antechamber flew open and the sounds of a heated argument could be heard by the four students. When Dumbledore rounded the corner and saw the two of them standing there he ran up to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes.

"Harry did you or did you not put your name into the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore asked as he sent a full mental probe into Harry's mind.

"I swear sir, I never put my name into the goblet and have no idea how it got there."

"He must be lying!" Maxine yelled from where she was standing with the others.

Dumbledore who had finished his legilimency of Harry's mind lowered his hand from Harry's shoulder and turned to the others. "Harry is telling the truth, he had no part in putting his name into the Goblet of Fire."

As Dumbledore's back was turned Harry saw Maxine give him a sly wink which he returned in kind. However Fleur noticed the byplay between the two and squeezed Harry's arm even tighter, when Harry looked down at her he saw an angry look in her eyes.

Harry and Fleur both stood in silence as Ludo Bagman, Snape, McGonagall, Maxine, Karkaroff, Barty Crouch, and Dumbledore deliberated about what to do. Crouch ended the discussion when he stated that since Harry's name was chosen by the goblet that he was now part of a magical contract and thus forced to compete causing all of their arguing to be pointless. What worried Harry the most was the calculating look in Dumbledore's eyes when he eventually conceded and allowed for Harry to compete. Everything did not end smoothly though as Karkaroff declared that Durmstrang would never compete in the tournament again if Harry was allowed to compete. In the end the argument was simply dropped with the understanding that Harry would compete no matter what anybody said.

When the champions were allowed to leave with the reminder that the wand weighing ceremony was to be held in three weeks Fleur promptly dragged Harry to an empty classroom.

"Now tell me about the little wink you shared with Madame Maxine and what that was all about." She demanded.

Before he answered Harry cast silencing charms throughout the room before he turned back to Fleur to give her the explanation she wanted. "Maxine and I had planned all along for me to enter the tournament and," Harry would have gone further except Fleur slapped him across the face, hard.

"Why!?" She asked, "This was supposed to be my chance to finally prove that being a veela didn't make me any worse than any other witch!" Fleur said as the beginnings of tears formed in her eyes. Harry stood from the desk he was sitting on and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest as she began to cry. They stood there for almost half an hour as Fleur's crying turned into quiet sobs. "Why?" She barely managed to ask.

"Because Maxine and I realized the only way to truly protect you in this tournament was for me to be in it myself. This way I could help you with whatever you had to face in the tournament." Harry explained by softly whispering in her ear. "The plan was never for me to win the tournament and steal this moment away from you, it was only to ensure your safety." Harry said as he stepped back and held her at arm's length and met her eyes with his, Fleur simply nodded as they continued to maintain eye contact. Not for the first time Harry noticed just how beautiful her sky blue eyes were. Harry felt himself subconsciously leaning in and noticed Fleur began to do the same.

Harry closed his eyes before he felt his lips meet Fleur's. It was only a brief kiss but in it Harry could feel the emotion behind it and the warmth that spread throughout his body. Pulling back Harry's eyes met Fleur's once again.

"How did you manage to do it?" She asked in voice barely above a whisper. Harry gave her the full explanation, how he had placed a powerful confundus charm on the goblet to make it believe he was from a different school and how Maxine had crossed the age line for him and placed the parchment in under the different school, ensuring his participation.

"But didn't Dumbledore use legilimency on you?"

Harry smirked at her question. "He did but he underestimated my occlumency skills. I simply showed him some false memories I created and he made the mistake of not believing that a fourteen year old was capable of doing so." Fleur gave a slight smile because of his explanation.

"So what happens now?" She asked.

"Now we wait for Maxine to tell us what the first task is, she already told me she would do so the second she found out about what it was." Harry said as he stood and held his arm out towards her. "I believe it is time to take you back to the carriage." He said as she too rose and looped an arm through his. Once Harry had walked her back to the carriage he went back to the Room of Requirement to start practicing more spells before going to sleep.

 **A/N Since Harry being selected as the fourth champion is present in every story I've ever read I decided to switch things up a little bit. I'm kinda surprised though at how many people wanted me to make Harry screw with Dumbledore, guess people don't like him so I hope I made him as despicable as you guys wanted me to. Hope y'all like this chapter though :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Playing with Love

A/N Sorry about the wait on this one. It's been a busy 2 weeks and I couldn't find the time to write.

Chapter 9

The next morning Harry and Fleur walked into the Great Hall and like always sat alone and away from everyone else at the Ravenclaw table. They had both sat down and began to reach for their food when a house elf with a frantic look appeared before them. The elf snapped its bony fingers and all the food in front of Harry and Fleur disappeared much to their surprise.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded of the elf with large tennis ball-sized yellow eyes that stood on the table. The elf's presence had not gone unnoticed by others though as many around Harry kept giving the three of them curious glances and wondering what the elf was up to. Unknown to Harry and Fleur though was that Dumbledore was quickly striding down the aisles between tables, heading directly for them.

"Great-Master-Harry must not eat or drink at meals here as there is-" The elf said rapidly but was quickly silenced by Dumbledore's voice which came from Harry's right.

"Dobby! I insist that you return back to the kitchens at this instant!" Dumbledore said in an angry tone and none of the grandfatherly charm that was usually laced in his words was present when he spoke to Dobby.

"Yes Lord Dumbledore, I's be heading back now." Dobby said with one last worried glance in Harry's direction before a soft crack signalled his departure from the Great Hall.

"I'm so sorry about all that." Dumbledore said with a smile, yet he could detect faint traces of anger and irritation underneath his friendly countenance. "Please return to your breakfast."

"Thank you Professor, but Harry and I both aren't feeling very hungry right now. I think I will return to the carriage now." Fleur said as she rose to leave with Harry quickly following. The two of them shared nervous glances along the way out, never noticing the whispering that filled the Great Hall.

Only when they were outside of the castle and roaming the grounds did they speak.

"What do you think the elf was trying to tell us?" Fleur asked.

"I don't know, I was told that he was known for being a manipulative bastard but I didn't think he would resort to putting things in our food." When he said this Fleur immediately stopped and tilted her head with concern written all over her face.

"How can we stop this?" She asked, "It's not like we can just stop eating, and if we keep eating then Dumbledore can just keep trying to influence us with potions."

Harry's gaze wandered across the motionless waters of the Black Lake as he thought of what he could do. When he finally had a perfect idea a slight smirk found its way onto his face. "Wait here, I'll figure something out." And with that Harry quickly retraced his steps back into the castle.

Once outside the doors to the Great Hall Harry put his invisibility cloak on, which he always carried with him for the times when he would shadow Fleur around the school. Harry sat on a bench directly across from the doors and settled down to wait for who he was looking for.

It only took fifteen minutes for his targets to leave breakfast. The two of them walked ahead of everyone else and were quietly chatting with two other girls wearing Gryffindor colors.

"Fred, George." He whispered once he was right next to them. Harry was quite thankful when the two of them showed no outward signs of surprise when they heard their names whispered from out of nowhere. Quickly making their excuses for leaving the two girls, Angelina and Alicia he thought were the names they said, the two Weasley twins quickly entered the room where they once dragged me to reveal the Room of Requirement.

"Quite a show you put on in there Potter." One them said after I revealed myself to them.

"You should have seen how angry ol' Dumbles was"

"When you both walked out on him."

Harry gave an amused grin because of the twins' antics. "While that's all well and good I need your help with something."

"We're listening." Was the only reply Harry got.

"From what I gathered Dumbledore is slipping something, I don't know what, into the food Fleur and I eat." He explained to Hogwarts' resident pranksters. "And Fleur and I need your help to smuggle food in so we can eat." As he finished the twins shared a knowing smirk.

"But Harrikans,"

"We happen to know a much easier method." They said. The two quickly explained to Harry about a way to get into the kitchens. Harry was able to discern from their hushed voices, despite the privacy spell he placed, that this was another one of their closely guarded secrets. Throughout their explanation Harry felt his eyes grow wide with surprise as they described both the entrance and all the elves could do for you once you found them.

After the two took their leave saying that they had to prepare for class, Harry went outside and found Fleur where he left her, irritation written clearly across her face. "What took you so long." She demanded.

Harry only gave her an impish grin before he grabbed her hand and quickly took the path the Weasley twins told him about while dragging Fleur with him. Only when he reached the painting with a bowl of fruit did Harry let go of her hand, and also realizing that he had held it the entire way there. Harry missed the glare Fleur sent him as he looked at the painting to find the green pear he needed to tickle, but he mainly did so to avoid looking at her and allowing her to see the blush on his face. He never realized there was a similar blush adorning Fleur's graceful features.

Reaching out Harry used his pointer finger and rubbed the pear only for a playful giggle to be emitted from the painting and for the pear to turn into a green handle. Grabbing the handle and opening the door Harry walked in only for his mouth to drop in amazement. The room was every bit as big as the Great Hall which stood directly on top of where they were. The kitchens had row after row of floor-to-ceiling racks where ingredients sat waiting to be used. Dozens of house elves were bustling about the room though once Harry walked in they all stopped and stared right back at him. Harry found himself confronted by hundreds of tennis ball-sized yellow eyes similar to those of Dobby.

Harry was shaken out of his stupor when he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. Looking next to him he saw Fleur with an amused smile, "Close your mouth before you catch any flies." She said.

"Great-Master-Harry came to see us!" A excited voice rang out from amongst the assembled house elves. After the crack of apparition Dobby stood before Harry and Fleur with eyes filled with wonder.

"Hey Dobby." Harry said and all the other house elves returned to the painstaking task of feeding hundreds of students.

"What is it the Great Harry Potter wants?"

"We weren't able to eat breakfast this morning after your warning-"

Harry never got to finish his statement as Dobby began to bang his head against the doorframe that stood right behind Fleur. "Dobby bad elf for defying master and telling Great Harry Potter about the food!"

Harry stood there not really sure what to do. Dobby just began to say "Bad Dobby!" time and time again, each time punctuated by hitting his head again.

Only after he had done it nearly half a dozen times did Harry manage to collect his wits enough to act. "Dobby stop doing that." He said as he grabbed the elf and pulled him away from the door. Finding a table set up for students to eat at Harry placed Dobby in a chair and took one opposite from him, leaving the third one for Fleur.

"Dobby has never been asked to sit down with a wizard." Dobby said as he wiped a tear out of his eyes.

"Now Dobby, without hurting yourself, tell us what Dumbledore made you do." Fleur said in a kind yet firm voice. The only effect her words had on Dobby was to make the elf look like he was about to completely break down into tears at that very table.

"Dobby can't say, if he does then Dobby loses his magic and dies." Dobby said with a sob. "Dobby wishes to help Harry Potter and his friend but Dobby can't."

Fleur simply leaned back in her chair when Dobby revealed this, contemplating what to do with the new information. "Can you tell us what you put in our food?" She asked only for Dobby to shake his head in the negative saying Dumbledore told him to remain silent about what they did. Fleur continued to think about what to do but the only thing Harry was thinking about was how cute Fleur's frown was. Fleur's frown quickly turned into a radiant smile, which looked even better, as she seemingly found the solution they needed. "Can you tell us the ingredients of what you put in our food?" Dobby adopted a frown of his own when Fleur asked this, before Dobby could give an answer Fleur continued. "Since the ingredients were used up that technically wasn't what you put in our food so you won't be doing anything against Dumbledore's orders."

"Dobby can do that." Dobby said as Harry felt a smile work its way onto his face as well.

Dobby then told them the ingredients of what Dumbledore made them brew and put in the food. The list included things like Ashwinder eggs and pearl dust. As Dobby continued to list off ingredients it became apparent to Harry and Fleur, both exceptional potioneers, that Dumbledore was giving them a mix of love potions for Harry and rage potions for the two of them. However instead of their rage being targeted for each other the only person the two felt rage for was against Dumbledore himself for attempting to make them hate each other.

After Dobby was finished and the two of them got a quick breakfast from the elves they found themselves back in the entrance hall of the castle. "So what are we going to do about this?" Fleur asked.

Harry gave her a maniacal grin before saying, "Let's just say Dumbledore is going to learn why one should never play with love potions." The look he was giving her and the tone of voice he used caused visible shivers to go through Fleur. "First thing though is I need to find the Weasleys for a little help."

Later that night and well after curfew Harry and the Weasley twins stood over the boiling cauldron. "Do you have it?" Harry asked the two.

"Getting it was almost too easy." One said as he held up the hair Harry requested.

"Now will you tell us"

"Just what your big secret"

"Plan is?" They asked.

"Wouldn't be a secret if I told you now would it." He said with a cheeky grin for the two.

"All I know is that"

"If it involves Snape"

"Then we don't care what you do."

"Why Snape though?"

"You never interact with him." They asked.

Harry's grin quickly turned into a look of anger. "I may not but Fleur does and all he ever does to her is saying condescending things to her and eye her like a piece of meat." Harry snarled.

The twins only gave amused snorts. "It seems ickle Harrikans"

"Is getting awfully defensive"

"About the lovely veela."

Harry felt a blush rise to his cheeks due to the twins' prodding. "Thanks for the help, you two can leave now." Now it was the twins who had cheeky grins as they departed from the Room of Requirement leaving Harry to complete his task.

The next morning Harry rose slightly later than usual, deciding to skip workouts and head down to the kitchens early for food and to enact his plan. After giving his instructions to Dobby Harry waited for Fleur to show up and when she came early as requested the two ate and then made their way to the Great Hall. Fleur kept trying to get Harry to tell her what he had planned but Harry's response each time was, "Just wait and see", much to Fleur's annoyance. They both got interested looks from nearly every student as they later entered the Great Hall, the two of them hadn't appeared for lunch or dinner the previous day.

Harry and Fleur tried to keep up the pretense of having a conversation but kept glancing towards Dumbledore. Finally Dumbledore reached for his goblet and brought it to his lips and took a deep gulp of his morning pumpkin juice. The change seemed almost instantaneous as Dumbledore stiffened in his seat and a glazed look came over him. Dumbledore rose from his seat and every student became silent as usually him doing this meant a speech of some sort. Elation filled Harry due to several factors, first was simply because his plan was working and second was because all the students were quiet meaning they would hopefully hear every word. Harry and Fleur both quietly settled in for the fireworks.

Dumbledore walked in front of the staff table and stopped before Snape who looked up at him with a surprised expression on his face. "Can I help you Headmaster?" He asked.

Before answering Dumbledore pulled his wand out and conjured a bouquet of roses. "I know how you can help me." Dumbledore said with longing laced throughout his voice. "I beg you heed my words, I have been blind all these years Severus, never before have I noticed your beauty which truly is as radiant as the most brilliant of stars. You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes upon" Dumbledore declared.

The entire Great Hall sat in stunned silence, nearly everyone's jaw dropped in shock at the scene in front of them. Even the teachers all looked stunned yet several of them including Maxine looked highly amused at Dumbledore's antics.

"Um Headmaster, is there something wrong with you this morning?" Snape asked.

"No Severus I am better than I ever have been for I have finally realized the love I feel for you." By this point many in the Great Hall were struggling to hold their laughter in. "Tell me Severus, do you love me?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape sat there with his face as red as the Weasley twins' hair, though whether from rage or embarrassment Harry didn't know. Though judging by the death glare Snape was sending him Harry felt it was likely a mix of both. When Snape gave no response Dumbledore broke down in tears. "Albus pull yourself together!" Snape said with a little edge in his voice.

Obviously not really what Snape said Dumbledore's head snapped up with a hope in his eyes. "So you do love me?" He asked and before Snape could answer Dumbledore tried to get over the staff table and when he made it across he began to try and grab Snape and from what Harry could see, was trying to kiss to potions professor.

By that point the staff teachers had finally managed to collect themselves enough to act and began to try and separate Dumbledore from Snape. After Dumbledore kept struggling McGonagall simply stunned him with a spell and levitated Dumbledore and took him with her presumably to the infirmary. Every student in the Great Hall were all dying laughing and some even had fallen off the benches they sat on they were laughing so hard, however the loudest laughter came from the Gryffindor. Looking around the Great Hall Harry could only feel that he had truly managed to get his revenge this time.

A/N I know some of you may have wanted me to keep the whole rage potion thing going on for longer but this is what I wanted to do and I was also able to help set up later events with this. Hope y'all like this and managed to get a laugh out of it, I felt pretty amused while writing this.


	10. Chapter 10: Weighing Wands

*A/N flashback present in this chapter will be in italics*

For weeks one of the main topics of discussion had been the prank on Dumbledore, along with mass speculation on who was the perpetrator of such daring prank. After such a display, nobody in the school even remembered the scene between Harry, Dobby, and Dumbledore the day before. Along with the fact that nobody ever saw the famed Boy-Who-Lived, his potential for involvement quickly left the minds of all students and visitors alike. The only people who knew of Harry's involvement were Snape, Dumbledore, the Weasley Twins, and Fleur. Snape and Dumbledore both stayed quiet about it because if they reprimanded Harry then questions might be asked and those questions might lead back to their attempted drugging of two foreign students. After a quick word with two both Fred and George promised to not reveal anything.

With eating his meals in the kitchens to avoid being drugged by Dumbledore, sleeping in the Room of Requirement, and using his invisibility cloak whenever he shadowed Fleur around the school, Harry was virtually never seen by the student populace. The only times he might be seen were when he and Fleur would take walks around the Black Lake to avoid the stares and drooling Fleur inevitably attracted.

The first time Harry was seen by the public eye was when the wand weighing ceremony came around. Seeing as this was their first chance to finally see Harry, both reporters and ministry officials flocked the the ceremony in droves. So many came that instead of using one of the larger classrooms like they had planned, the organizers of the event had to move it to the Great Hall.

As Harry walked in with Fleur at his side, every voice hushed and every eye turned to him. Suddenly an avalanche of noise and movement erupted as everyone present tried to talk to Harry at once. Reporters all rushed him to try and be the first ones to have questions answered by Harry, and ministry officials all tried to be the first to greet Harry. The result was a cacophony of questions and introductions and everyone crowded around Harry to get a glimpse of him. Through the den of noise Harry was still able to make out several things being said.

"Is it true you were raised by dark wizards?" One asked only for his question to be shoved aside as another was asked.

"Is it true who murdered an innocent man purely for his money?" A blonde woman with red glasses asked.

As the reporters began to edge even closer to him Harry wrapped an arm around Fleur and began to try and work his way through the mob of people, Fleur wrapped snuggly into his side and away from the boisterous crowd around them.

Only when they reached the other champions and the crowd still remained as raucous as earlier did Dumbledore finally take action. Using the sonorous charm to magnify his voice he yelled for silence and the crowd reluctantly took their seats and remained in silence.

The Great Hall had been cleared of the usual house tables in favor of endless rows of individual chairs for those present to use. Standing before the teacher table was the heads of each school along with Crouch, Ludo Bagman, and another man with long and dirty silver hair.

"The wand weighing ceremony will now begin." Crouch announced in the disinterested monotone that Harry had become accustomed to the man speaking in.

"Good afternoon champions, as some of you may know I am Garrick Ollivander," He man with the silver hair said with a knowing grin towards Hogwarts' champion Cedric. "I will be the one to weigh the wands. Now then, ladies first I suppose." He said while looking at Fleur and waiting for her to walk up to him.

Fleur gave Harry a quick smile before her eyes slid down to his arm that was still wrapped around her waist. Harry quickly removed his arm with a faint blush on his face. Their little byplay didn't go unnoticed by some though as the sound of several pictures being taken could be heard as Fleur strode up to Ollivander.

Once Fleur stood before him Ollivander reached out for her wand while visibly struggling to shrug off Fleur's allure, which she had forgotten to rein in after letting it go unsuppressed when she was with Harry earlier. Realizing what was going on Fleur quickly worked to suppress her allure and the strained look on Ollivander's face quickly dissipated.

Ollivander stood there with Fleur's wand in hand as he scrupulously observed it. "Nine and a half inches, Rosewood, and with a veela hair for a core?" Ollivander said while giving Fleur a questioning gaze. Fleur simply nodded and Ollivander used her wand to summon a bouquet of flowers. Nodding to himself, Ollivander deemed her wand was in condition to compete with and handed it back to her along with the bouquet of flowers before proceeding to the next champion.

Ollivander quickly examined Cedric and Krum's wands before it was Harry's turn to go. Walking up to the old man Harry handed over his wand. Ollivander stood there rotating the wand in his hands, observing every inch of it. Finally he announced to the assembled crowd, "Eleven and five-eighths of an inch, quite an exact length." He said before he frowned while looking at the wand. "Though I am at a loss as to what wood is used and what the core is." This caused an excited wave of whispering to erupt from those seated in the Great Hall. Ollivander's statement made Harry remember the day he had gone with Sirius and Remus to get his wand.

 _He was only six years old when Remus and Sirius told him they were going to town to get Harry a wand. Harry was bubbling with excitement as he would finally be able to use magic and be taught by Remus and Sirius. "Now remember Harry, be very respectful of Mister Gregorovitch, he is the best wand crafter in the world and should be treated as such." Remus said as the three of them walked across the town square and entered several dark alleyways._

" _But if he's so good why is he in some small muggle town like this?" Harry asked._

 _Remus and Sirius shared a quick glance before Remus stopped them and got on his knees so he could be eye level with Harry. "I will tell you but first you must promise me never to ask Gregorovitch about his past as he may not take kindly to you doing so." Harry only nodded before Remus took a deep breath and began to tell Harry about the mysterious wand crafter._

 _According to Remus, Gregorovitch had been experimenting with many different cores and wood combinations in an attempt to recreate the power of some mystical wand that had been stolen from him decades ago. In doing so Gregorovitch had gained a name as one of the best wand crafters in the world for his use of obscure cores and woods. After decades of experimenting Gregorovitch resorted to using multiple cores and only last year he gave one of these new wands to a young Polish noble. The wand malfunctioned and exploded, killing the user and the nobles' father used his wealth and influence to have Gregorovitch executed. Gregorovitch managed to catch wind of the plan and was able to flee to the Pyrenees Mountains and to the town the three of them were currently in._

 _Harry's amazement grew throughout the tale and when Remus was finished Harry was almost bouncing up and down in excitement. The three of them continued through the twisting alleys and soon came a door with faded paint and deteriorating wood. Walking up to the door Remus gently knocked._

 _Harry could hear footsteps approaching the door and the door opened revealing a decrepit looking old man. "What do you want?" He asked in a wheezing voice._

" _I am Remus Lupin and the two with me are Sirius Black and Harry Potter."_

" _I've heard of your names before, both of you are wanted internationally for kidnapping the Potter boy." He said._

" _We're aware of that but we didn't come here to discuss the manhunt for us." Sirius said._

 _Gregorovitch shifted his eyes to Harry standing between Sirius and Remus. "A wand for the boy I suppose?"_

" _Yes please sir." Harry said with hope in his eyes._

 _Gregorovitch seemed to study Harry for a while before he completely opened the door, allowing entry to them. "When I left Warsaw I thought I would never be making a wand again," he said as he wandered into a closet where several dusty jars sat on shelves. "However, you are in luck as I took the rarer and more expensive materials with me so nobody else could get there hands on them." He explained and returned with several jars stored in a wooden box. Upon further inspection Harry saw that each jar held a different kind of wood. Gregorovitch took the lid off each jar and placed them in a line on a table. "Hold your hand over each jar and whichever one you get the most reaction from will be used for your wand." He explained to Harry._

 _Harry ran his hand along all of them not getting a reaction until the last one where when he placed his hand over it he felt a searing heat spread throughout his hand and arm. "This one." Harry said while holding the jar._

 _Gregorovitch had a surprised look on his face. "Bamboo." He said. "Never had someone pick that before. Bamboo is a flexible yet strong wood and wands made from it are rumored to be powerful in almost all branches of magic. Having never see a bamboo wand I can't confirm this though." He said as he took the jar from Harry's hand and pulled out the many strips of wood. "Now for a core."_

 _He then placed another set of jars in front of Harry with similar instructions to the wood. Only this time Harry felt a reaction from two different jars, one held a pinch of ivory powder while the other held a vial filled with a small amount of liquid that looked like water. When Harry held up the two cores Gregorovitch gasped in shock. "In all my years I have never seen a wand as complex as yours Mister Potter." When a questioning look was the only thing he got from the others assembled in the room Gregorovitch elaborated. "The two you picked up is crushed basilisk fang and freely given phoenix tears."_

" _How could you have gotten these?" Sirius asked with a shocked expression on his face that was mirrored on Remus'._

" _At great personal cost." Was the only response they got. Gregorovitch looked at the various items in his hands before he sighed and returned his gaze to the three. "You know, when you first knocked on the door I had every intention of refusing your request for a wand but seeing the items Mister Potter picked out I can't help but feel that maybe he is the answer I have looked for for so long." He placed the wood and cores on a desk with several other instruments before addressing them again. "It will take some time to make the wand and to ensure the cores manage to mesh together and with the wood. Come back in three weeks and I should be done."_

 _Three weeks later and Harry found himself back in the run-down building but only with Sirius this time for Remus had business to attend to in France. Gregorovitch returned to them with a bow in his hands. "Only one thing remains for me to do, the cores and wood proved quite unstable and I will need something of you Mister Potter." Harry only nodded in affirmation to the wand crafter's request. "I need a vial of your blood so the cores can stabilize."_

 _Once Harry had given the required blood Gregorovitch went into the back of the building with the wand and vial of blood in hand. After nearly an hour he returned to the front with a smile on his face. "I dare say this may be the greatest wand I have ever had the pleasure of crafting." He said before removing the lid to the box with a flourish, inside the box way a wand nearly a foot long and with a vine motif running along the entire length of the wand, starting at the base and ending at the tip. Harry took the wand and the instant it made contact with his skin he felt at heat spread throughout his entire body._

" _Thank you so much sir." Harry said with wonder in his voice._

" _No it is I who should thank you, for you have allowed me come close than I ever have to completing my life goal." He said before sending the two of them away._

"Mister Potter, Mister Potter!" Ollivander said with the slightest hint of irritation. Harry's thoughts snapped back to the present and he realized everyone was looking at him impatiently.

"Oh sorry, my wand is bamboo with a core of crushed basilisk fang dissolved in freely given phoenix tears." Harry said. Instead of saying anything Ollivander simply stood there in shock as what Harry said sank in.

"I daresay this may be the most powerful wand I've ever held in my hands." Ollivander said before casting a charm that would summon wine. Only a trickle came out and Ollivander dropped the wand and clutched his hand in agony.

Harry quickly grabbed his wand from where Ollivander had dropped it. "Sorry about that, my wand is quite picky about who uses it." Harry explained before quickly returning to Fleur's side.

Ollivander cleared Harry's wand and Dumbledore stood in the space Ollivander had just vacated, "Now if any reporters have questions for the champions they may be asked now." Immediately all the reporters were on their feet, clamoring for Dumbledore's attention. Dumbledore eventually called on the woman with red glasses from earlier, "Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet." She said before asking her question. "Mr. Potter, now that you have returned to Britain despite remaining with quite detestable company for one of your status, will you now tell us where you have been?"

Harry felt himself bristle when she said the part about 'detestable company'. Fleur saw this and gripped Harry's forearm and when there eyes met sent him a silent message, 'Don't do anything drastic again' it said. "First things first Ms. Skeeter, you have no right to say such things about those who are my friends, and second, I will not tell anyone where I have been so if that is all of you were going to ask then you might as well go ahead and leave."

"Very well then Mr. Potter, would you care to answer my earlier question about how you killed an innocent man in cold blood to acquire his fortunes?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

Before he could answer though Maxine stood and in a booming voice said, "We are here to ask the champions about the tournament, not pry into their private lives. You would all do well to remember that."

After Maxine's stern warning to the assembled reporters the interview proceeded with questions about tournament and things related to it. Eventually Crouch stood and said that the time for interviews was over and for everyone to leave the Great Hall.

Harry and Fleur both stood and began to prepare themselves for the next onslaught but this time from ministry officials. The two began to leave when they both felt a large hand on their shoulders. Turning around the saw Maxine standing behind them, "Follow me, I know of a side exit that can take us to my office inside the school." she said as she led them out a side door and up several flights of stairs. Maxine opened up a door and led them into a circular room with several chairs arranged around a desk. "Dumbledore gave Karkaroff and I rooms inside the school should we choose to attend to our duties inside the school." She explained as they all took seats around the desk.

"Thank you for stopping that Skeeter woman." Harry said.

"She had no right to ask those questions and further she had no right to insult Fleur by referring to those you keep for company as detestable." Maxine explained. "But you're welcome nonetheless." She said with a small smile.

"So why are we here?" Fleur asked.

The smile on Maxine's face quickly disappeared and she proceeded to place silencing wards throughout the room. When she finished she sat back down and folded her hands on the desk in front of her while struggling on how to word what she needed to say. "I have discovered just what you will be faced with in the first task." She said as she sent a worried glance towards the two in front of her. "You will each have to defeat a manticore."

 **A/N I felt making it a dragon would be too damn cliche and I also just wanted to do something different. Hoped y'all liked this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11: First Task

**A/N Sorry I couldn't get this chapter out any sooner, I was at the lake all weekend and didn't have any wifi. If this is posted any later than I had anticipated than it is because I decided to push through and get all the way to the first task.**

Chapter 11

When Rita Skeeter's article in the Daily Prophet came out the day after the Wand Weighing Ceremony, Harry needed every bit of discipline he had to stop himself from killing Skeeter. The Weasley twins had bought a copy of it, and knowing Harry would be with Fleur, gave it to Fleur so they could both read it. As they both sat in the very back of Fleur's charm class Harry could feel his irritation growing as he read.

 _Boy-Who-Lived Returns!_

 _For the first time in fourteen years Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, has finally been presented to the public eye. You may all remember reading that Harry came to Hogwarts this year with the Beauxbatons contingent for the Triwizard Tournament. You may also remember that Harry Potter has become the youngest competitor in Triwizard Tournament history (14). However, this reporter has some disturbing news to share with you all. When asked about his past and whether or not he was raised by dark wizards and criminals, Harry Potter became defensive and would not share any information. What some may see as even more disturbing however is the choice of people Harry has been seen cavorting about with. Harry Potter has been seen in close contact and appears to see Beauxbatons' Champion, Fleur Delacour (17), in a way may be considered a romantic fashion. It has also come to this reporter's' attention during the weighing of the wands that Mrs. Delacour not human, but is a veela, a race of creatures known for using their alluring powers to seduce men and lead them to their deaths. As the heir of one of the most prominent families in magical Britain, and the Boy-Who-Lived to boot, the question of why Harry Potter would have relations with such a creature when being sought after by so many far more eligible witches throughout the British Isles is foremost in my mind. Has our hero been seduced by the veela's powers? Was Harry raised by criminals? Is he a murderer? This reporter won't rest until the answers to these questions have been found._

As Harry finished reading he felt anger coursing through him, that Rita Skeeter him the gall to refer to Fleur as a creature, and to demean her in such a way was inexcusable to Harry. Harry saw the expression on Fleur's face as she too read through Skeeter's article. The expression he saw was one of pain and Harry felt his anger dissipate even faster than it had sprung up. Harry wrapped an arm around Fleur and pulled her into him where he could feel her tears begin to soak through the invisibility cloak he was currently wearing. Feeling the cloak begin to slide off Harry rolled his shoulders to facilitate its' movement, not caring that he suddenly appeared before the entire class.

They both sat unmoving as Professor Flitwick continued with his lecture in the front of his class, the only sound being Fleur's quiet sobs. When Flitwick finally dismissed them Harry quickly stood and with his arm still around Fleur quickly led her to the library and skipping Fleur's potions class with Snape. When they arrived at the table they had virtually claimed as their own Harry sat down with Fleur in his lap and she let out all the pain Skeeter's article had caused. Harry had no idea how long he sat there but when Fleur's tears turned into broken sobs Harry placed a hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his own. "Come on let's start researching manticores so when the first task comes along you can proved every single one of them wrong."

Fleur's eyes, red from crying, filled with a fiery determination and she stood while quickly wiping away any leftover tears before reaching out, grabbing Harry's hand, and pulling him to his feet. When he was standing barely any room separated the two of them, whatever words that Fleur was going to say died in her throat as she stared in the green depths of Harry's eyes. Fleur could feel herself getting lost in his eyes and unconsciously began to lean forward only to see Harry doing the same.

When barely an inch separated them reality came crashing down on Fleur like a ton of bricks. Harry was here to protect her, not be a lover!. Fleur quickly took a step back, her cheeks blushing like crazy as she realized just how close she had come to kissing Harry. Harry's eyes opened and apparently also seemed to realize what they nearly did as his face to Fleur seemed to resemble a tomato.

"Right, studying." Harry said as he sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. And with that the two began to peruse the aisles for anything that might help.

"This is pointless!" Yelled an irate Fleur as she slammed the tome she was currently reading on the table. The two were currently sitting at a table in the back corner of the library and away from the other occupants of the room. With only a week until the first task they had both begun to spend every possible minute in the library to try and learn new spells and to find any piece of information that prove helpful.

"I will admit this is quite frustrating." Harry said as he continued to skim through one of the books written by Gilderoy Lockhart, who claimed to have defeated a manticore when he went to India. Quietly laughing at the outlandishness of the tale Harry closed the book detailing an obviously fake adventure. Fleur only groaned in frustration as she held her head in her hands.

"What's worse is that I'm not even sure I can charm speak it to sleep like I could if we faced say, a dragon." Fleur said as she stood to return her book and for what felt to her like the thousandth time, search for a new book on magical creatures that might help.

"Well I for one am perfectly happy that we aren't facing a dragon." Harry said as he stood and walked over to where Fleur was currently browsing the top shelf.

"I'm certain that reading this will be a waste of time but to hell with it." She said as she picked up yet another book that the two had yet to read.

"Who knows maybe Remus and Sirius might know something that can help us."

"Please, those two?" Fleur said as she snorted with amusement. "There's no way they have something that the Hogwarts library, the biggest in existence, has."

With a slight smirk on his face Harry said, "Don't forget that in addition to the Potter library, that they also have access to the Durand library. I'm sure Remus has been poring over every book we got from them."

Fleur gave a small smirk and shook her head in a playful nature, "Whatever, we need to get lunch and we can see if they will come to the rescue."

Their answer came when the entered the kitchens and saw Dobby standing before them holding a brown package in his arms. "The Great Harry Potter's owl delivers this to him and his miss."

Giving Fleur a knowing smirk Harry walked forward to get the package only to be surprised at just how heavy it was. Giving the house elf a disbelieving look because of how easy Dobby could carry it, Harry dropped it on a table and began to tear at the paper packaging. "Dumbledore didn't try and interfere did he?" Harry asked while taking a break from unwrapping Remus' gift.

"Dumbledore had no chance to, Dobby take it before meddling man could do anything. Dobby will likely be punished for this." Dobby said in a sad voice as he stared at the ground between his feet.

Harry glanced at Fleur who was staring right at him, with a questioning look on her face. The two seemed to have a wordless discussion and Fleur's expression noticeably brightened before her gaze returned to the elf in front of them.

"Dobby." She said getting the elf to look up at her with unshed tears beginning to collect in his eyes. "How would you like to be the Great Harry Potter's house elf?" When she asked this every elf in the kitchens went silent and were all looking towards the scene unfolding in front of them.

"Does the Great Harry Potter truly wish for Dobby to serve him?" Dobby asked as hope filled his body and stood up straight and furiously wiped away his tears which had begun to run down his face.

Every eye turned to Harry who simply shrugged and said, "Sure, I'd love for you to serve me." Even as Harry was saying it, Dobby rushed forward and wrapped his knobby arms around Harry's legs, sobbing uncontrollably and muttering about how great Harry was and how he was such a good master. Dobby then reached up and grabbed Harry's hand, causing a golden flash to fill the room and temporarily blind both Harry and Fleur. As the flash dissipated Harry's eyes turned to Dobby and he saw that the originally thin house elf with slumped shoulders stood proudly before him with his shoulders squared and eyes now seeming to vibrate with color.

"What does the Great Harry Potter wish for Dobby to do?"

"Just carry on as you have been and make sure Dumbledore keeps his nose out of my affairs." Harry said as all the other house elves returned to what they were doing before Harry and Fleur arrived, including Dobby who quickly returned back into the many racks of food.

"Now that that's over with, we can see what Remus sent us." Fleur said as she returned her attention to the package that lay on halfway unwrapped. Only when she realized that Harry was standing still did her gaze fall upon him to see him standing there with a silly smile. Fleur tilted her head wondering what he found so amusing.

"I could get used to you calling me the 'Great Harry Potter'" He said.

"Prat." Harry only sniggered when she said this before he finally finished unwrapping the package to see a book a worn leather cover.

"Hold up Remus left a note for me." Harry said as he grabbed the piece of parchment on top of the obviously antique tome.

 _Harry,_

 _This book came from an ancestor of yours from around the fourteenth century. Albert Peverell once went to India and was able to get his hands on a copy of a book that detailed various dark creatures native to the area. He spent nearly a decade translating it to English and this is a one of a kind book. Due to its' age many pages are undecipherable but the pages you need are still in relatively good shape. In addition to what he discovered in India Albert also added lore about various creatures in other areas._

 _Hope this helps,_

 _Sirius and Remus_

"Do you realize what this is?" Fleur asked looking to Harry with astonishment evident on her face. "This book is easily one of the most valuable possessions in the entire Potter vault."

"Then we need to make full use of it." Harry said as he grabbed her hand and quickly led her back to the library after getting some food from Dobby to take with them.

The following week passed quickly and before Harry and Fleur knew it, they were sitting

in the champions' tent waiting for Ludo Bagman to explain the first task to them. The book sent by Remus and Sirius proved to be more than helpful, and Harry and Fleur both were able to develop a plan to deal with their manticore from the translations made by Harry's ancestor. Apparently there were several different types of manticores in existence but the most dangerous ones at least had a natural weakness. That weakness was elephants. In Indian legend a manticore was capable of shooting poisonous spikes out of its tail but an elephant had an immunity to the poison. But only one breed had projectile spikes. Manticores were in Roman, Greek, and Persian lore and several of them had different strengths.

"Hello everybody! Gather around me please." The booming voice of Ludo Bagman said as the man entered the tent with Crouch and the heads of school behind him. Bagman walked in carrying a large leather pouch and upon seeing it Harry and Fleur shared a knowing glance.

"Each of you will have a manticore you must face. Once you kill it you will be given the clue needed for the second task. Now ladies first." Crouch said as the bag was placed in front of Fleur who reached in and wincing, drew a model manticore out of the bag which had impaled its tail into her hand. "A Roman Manticore, known for its guile, craftiness, and ability to fly."

Krum and Cedric then selected one, getting a Persian and Greek manticore respectively. As Cedric reached in Harry noticed how pale and sweaty he was. The only thing Harry could figure was that he didn't know about the task beforehand, unlike Krum who acted with a stoic confidence.

"And that leaves the last one to you Mister Potter." Harry reached into the bag and withdrew a manticore shared the same characteristics as the Indian manticores Harry had read about. The figure in his hands had the body and head of a lion, three rows of teeth, and tail which was currently trying to shoot spikes but currently nothing came out of.

"We will go in order of those who drew first so Miss Delacour if you will remain ready you will enter when the cannon fires." Bagman said as he left with everyone else. Maxine briefly told Fleur and Harry good luck before she too walked out. When the cannon fired Fleur rose from where she was sitting next to Harry and after giving him a quick hug left the tent.

Harry felt his nerves begin to chafe as he was forced to sit there with only the sounds from the crowd as his way of knowing what was happening. With both Fleur and Krum the occasional gasp could be heard but usually after about twenty minutes the crowd would roar and at that point Harry knew they were both successful. When Cedric went Harry felt that he had sat there for even longer than Fleur and Krum took combined. The only sounds coming from the crowd was one collective gasp and then utter silence.

After nearly an hour waiting Harry was finally called in to compete. Harry walked through the tunnel into the arena to see his manticore simply standing there and waiting for him. Looking around the crowd he could only see confusion and sadness on the face of every student. Harry realized that this meant that the Hogwarts champion must have failed. Harry was quickly pulled out of his thoughts however when he heard a sharp noise directly above him. Realizing that it was a spike shot by the manticore only missing him by inches Harry quickly dove for cover behind a boulder. As he sat there with spikes whizzing all around him Harry put the plan he had worked on should he face this manticore and began to attempt one of the hardest transfigurations he had ever done; turning a rock into an elephant. In the days leading up to the first task Harry had only successfully done this once.

Picking a large rock near him Harry gathered his magic and tried to direct it through his wand unto the rock while using the proper incantation and wand movement. Nothing changed with the boulder due to Harry's spell except for it to grow small ears and the beginnings of a trunk. Unfazed, Harry kept recasting the spell as many times as needed. So focused on his casting that Harry barely noticed the manticore he was facing had positioned itself in a way that it had a perfect shot at Harry. Seeing its tail whip forward to launch another spike Harry knew he had only seconds to act. Casting the same cutting curse he used to kill Louis Durand Harry watched in satisfaction as his spell sliced clean through the manticore's tail, cutting off and causing the spike it was launching to fly off-target. The manticore shrieked in pain as it flailed around for a short bit. This was the first time the crowd gave any response to the happenings inside the arena as a short and barely audible gasp could be heard from several places in the crowd.

Seeing that he no longer had to contend with the tail or spikes Harry returned his attention to what was left of the manticore. As it recovered from its pain Harry remembered the part of his ancestor's writings that referred to the actual killing of a manticore.

 _Similar to their distant cousins the mountain troll, manticores have a skin resistant to magic but with a powerful enough spell one can punch through the skin to kill the beast._

Once it regained its bearings the manticore ran forwards to kill the one who had caused it so much pain. "Expulso!" Harry said as he tried to banish the manticore to the other side of the arena and give himself more time. However the fatigue from trying to transfigure the rock was weighing heavily upon him and the banishing charm came out far weaker than Harry intended. Instead of knocking it away from him Harry only managed to make the manticore stumble a bit and before he knew it the manticore had knocked him onto his back and stood with one paw on his chest. The manticore roared in triumph and brought its open mouth down to complete the kill. Seeing his life flash by before his eyes Harry's grip tightened on his wand and put everything he had left in him into a single spell. "Bombarda Maxima!" Harry yelled as he pointed his wand towards the rapidly descending open mouth of the Manticore.

The spell flew right in between the opened maw of the manticore and caused its entire head to explode in a shower of blood. Quickly standing Harry backed away from the manticore which was dissolving before his very eyes. The entirety of the manticore dissolved leaving only a golden egg behind. Cautiously picking the egg up Harry received a scattered and weak applause from those in the crowd, looking around Harry saw they all still had a depressed look on their faces. Taking the egg with him out the gates Harry was very quickly accosted by a portly witch wearing medical robes. "Right this way Mister Potter." She said as she led him into what was obviously an infirmary.

Inside Harry saw four beds lined up along one wall. Fleur was frantically pacing in front of one while Krum sat as still as a rock while staring at the ground. "Harry!" Fleur yelled in a concerned voice as she sprinted up to him and threw her arms around him and hugged him so hard he thought his ribs would crack.

"Fleur what happened?" Harry asked once Fleur let up and he could hold her at arm's' length. Fleur seemed to struggle to answer and when no words came out she only rushed forward into his arms again while violently shaking her head.

Only once his arms were again tightly wrapped around her was she able to answer. "Harry, Cedric is...he's... he's dead."

 **A/N And now for the bad news. Since I've completely procrastinated doing my summer work and now only have days to finish it I will be very stretched for time and the next chapter may not be out for a while. Also for me at least school starts back on August 10 and I'll be at camp Aug 6-9 so unless I find myself with more time on my hands than I thought I would than August 12 is the earliest I can post a new chapter. I personally hope that I can post before then but right it seems unlikely. Sorry :(**


	12. Chapter 12: I Need a Date

**A/N I know a lot of you are mad at me because of how long this chapter took to write. The problem is that recently it has taken all of my time to make sure my grades haven't spiralled out of control. This is a Christmas Break update and I hope to get one or two more chapters out before the break ends on 1/4/18. Unless things change my next update will be during my spring break in late March. Also since I've been reading a lot of multi stories I wanted to know if y'all wanted this to be a multi story and if yes then whom would you like added (personally I want Daphne added). I will however ask that Ginny not be involved mainly because I never liked her. Also as of now I have decided to make the rating be M for safety because of an attempted rape that will occur in later chapters.**

 **Chapter 12**

Two weeks after the conclusion of the first task Harry found himself and Fleur sitting near the back of a congregation of nearly a thousand witches and wizards, all who came to witness the burial of the heir to the Diggory family title.

In the hours after Harry had learned of Cedric's death Harry had been in a state of shock and surprise, he had never thought someone would end up dead despite the tournament's history of tragedy. The following morning a despondent Professor Dumbledore spoke to the assembled students. His message was that of courage and solidarity through the difficult times brought by Cedric's death.

Following Dumbledore, Bagman stood and gave the official scores given to the champions during the first task. Fleur got forty-seven points for charming the manticore into sleep with her only deduction being her accuracy in trying to hit the very fast and agile Roman manticore. Krum on received thirty-five points as he took the longest and also sustained several wounds. Harry received forty-two points for defeating his manticore fairly quickly and without sustaining any major injuries. Harry and Fleur's joy at being the two leaders in the contest was vastly overshadowed by the grim atmosphere pervading throughout the school and British wizarding society as a whole.

In the following days a public outcry began to swell up to have the Triwizard Tournament cancelled in fear of further loss of life. Despite a vast majority supporting the discontinuation of the tournament Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Crouch, Bagman, and a reluctant Maxine decided to continue the tournament. After the decision Maxine made it clear to Harry and Fleur of her belief that this was Fleur's chance to prove herself to be an ordinary wizard's equal or better and her belief that no matter what they faced with Harry and Fleur working together that nothing was a serious risk to the two.

A week after the meeting to determine the fate of the Tournament Harry and Fleur were sitting with so many others in the grounds of the Diggory Estate. After Dumbledore and several others gave their eulogies Cedric was lowered into his final resting place among the other deceased members of the Diggory family.

With the funeral over Fleur took Harry's hand and used her recently acquired skill with apparition to transport them into Hogsmeade. The two walked up the path to Hogwarts in silence and only when they arrived at the main gates did they realize that they had been holding hands the entire length of the walk. Blushing, they withdrew their hands thinking that the contact had felt quite pleasant.

The next day Harry and Fleur were walking outside on the Hogwarts Grounds when Maxine came up to them covering large amounts of ground with her long stride. "Harry, Fleur." she greeted with a warm smile but a worried expression on her face.

Seeing their headmistress' duress the two teens, who were up until then having an enjoyable time, quickly realized that things were about to potentially take a turn for the worst.

"Madame Maxine, what is it?" Harry asked.

"I know you don't want to be there, but I need you two to come with me to the Great Hall." A myriad of thoughts and questions crossed Harry's mind when she said this. Did they change their minds about continuing the tournament? Did they decide to tell them about the second task to make it easier and less life-threatening? These thoughts and others filled Harry's mind as he and Fleur had to almost run to keep up with Maxine.

They continued to follow Maxine until she promptly stopped in front of the doors to the Great Hall so quickly that Harry and Fleur nearly ran into her back. Maxine turned to face them with a wary look on her face. "I'm sorry for what you are about to have to deal with, I was only told we'd be doing this about an hour ago." Maxine explained to the two confused teens. Ignoring their questions Maxine opened the doors to reveal a nearly full Great Hall. Maxine quickly strode up the the teacher table and when Dumbledore and her met eyes those watching could see a hard and angry look enter her eyes.

Harry and Fleur sat down where they always would before the love potion fiasco when they began to no longer eat in the Great Hall. As they sat down both of them noticed the lustful glares Fleur received just as she always did. Soon the rest of the students had entered the Great Hall and all the tables were filled with people. As always Fleur and Harry were for the most part away from the others except for one Ravenclaw who was forced to sit to Harry's left. Harry didn't know the girl and had never talked to her, however he knew that she was a muggleborn witch named Hermione Granger and rumored to be very smart.

"Welcome everyone." Dumbledore said as he rose from his chair. "I have several announcements to make in regards to the Triwizard Tournament." When he said this Harry saw several people at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables gave him heated glares, though none could equal the venom present on the face of a cute asian in Ravenclaw. It became apparent that those in Hogwarts were not particularly happy that their champion lay dead while Harry, who shouldn't even be participating, stood in second place.

"Silence!" Dumbledore yelled to silence the wave of muttering that had spread throughout the Great Hall. When he had the attention of all those present Dumbledore continued, "As I was saying, it had been decided for the tournament to continue. In addition, it is my pleasure to announce that Hogwarts will play host to an ancient tradition that has always accompanied the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore paused for dramatic effect and Harry could see the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes even as far away as he was. "Hogwarts will be holding the Yule Ball for all those in fourth year and older and I encourage you to begin trying to find a date."

Even as the echoes of Dumbledore's announcements were still ringing throughout the Great Hall many glazed eyes fell upon the two of them yet, more specifically, on Fleur. Dumbledore clapped his hands for the food to arrive and Harry pulled his wand out to begin casting the detection spells he had recently learned from his self studies in the Room of Requirement. The Hermione girl next to Harry raised her eyebrows and was about to ask about the complex spells he was using when she was interrupted by by the first what Harry knew would be many suitors.

"Excuse me," the boy started, looking up Harry saw that it was a sixth year Slytherin who was trying his hardest to remain composed but small amount of drool running down his chin spoke of his bewitchment due to Fleur's allure. "Might I ask if you would attend the Yule Ball with me?" He asked. As politely as possible Fleur turned him down only for another boy to take his place.

This cycle of Fleur turning one down only for another to take his place went on for nearly ten minutes and Harry could see Fleur's irritation growing with every boy that asked. She eventually lost it however when a fourth year Slytherin who said his name was Draco Malfoy.

The Malfoy boy had strutted up acting as if he owned the place and everyone in the Great Hall was beneath him. Harry immediately knew this wouldn't end well and only moments later his suspicions were confirmed when Malfoy said, "You, creature! I will allow you the honor of being escorted by me to the Yule Ball despite your… less than human qualities." He finished with a smug smile as if he believed that she truly was so far below him that she would accept his offer. Instead of her receiving her acceptance of his offer Malfoy instead received a resounding slap that echoed throughout the hall.

As Malfoy backed away with a look of unbridled fury on his face Fleur angrily began throwing things into her bag, as Harry stood to leave with her she gave him a glare, "I will be going to the Beauxbatons carriage ALONE!" She said while nearly yelling the last bit.

Confused, Harry sat back down as Fleur stormed out of the Great Hall with nearly every eye following the enraged Veela. "Why the hell is she mad at me?" Harry muttered under his breath.

Despite not really wanting anyone to hear him, Hermione, who Harry had almost forgotten was next to him, had heard him. "Because, despite nearly all the boys in this hall asking her, the one she truly wanted to ask her didn't." She explained. When Harry still had a confused expression, Hermione continued, "Are you truly so daft as to not have seen it?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Well if you would simply tell me then maybe I would understand." Harry snapped.

Hermione gave him a quick glare and contemplated leaving him in the dark but in what little previous interaction she had with Fleur she had grown to like the veela and wanted her happy. As such, she decided to explain to Harry, "Every single time that she turned someone down and another one took his place, She would always look towards you with a hopeful expression." She explained and when Harry still was confused she grew frustrated and said "Are you really this daft?! She wants YOU to ask her to the Yule Ball!"

When she said this Harry realized just how much of an idiot he truly had been. "Thanks Hermione." He said before he too rushed out the Great Hall to find Fleur, leaving a now satisfied Hermione.

Rushing across the school grounds Harry quickly arrived at the Beauxbatons carriage and pounded on the door.

The door opened to reveal one of the older Beauxbatons students "What could you possibly need so urgently that you had to try and beat our door down?" She asked with contempt in her voice. Not choosing to answer I quickly pushed her aside much to her indignation and ran to the door that I knew would lead to Fleur's room. Catching my breath in front of her room I gently knocked on her door.

When I stood there for nearly a minute with no response I began to think that maybe she wasn't here and that I should try searching somewhere else. I had just turned to leave when Fleur quietly opened her door. "Harry?" She asked with a broken voice.

"Fleur!" I exclaimed as I rushed back up to her door. "Can I come in?"

Fleur simply nodded and opened her door and walked back to her bed. After a few minutes of the two of us simply sitting there Fleur asked, "Why are you here Harry?"

Harry could feel his mouth begin to dry and his hands start sweating. 'Bugger' he thought 'why is this so hard?' When Fleur began to speak again Harry quickly interrupted "Fleur, can I ask you a question?"

When her eyes met his he could see the hope in them and realized that Hermione was right, he was the one she was waiting for. "Fleur," Harry began, "will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" he asked.

Fleur had the biggest smile on her face that Harry had ever seen and she quickly strode up to him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. When she released him she still had her hands clasped behind his neck and she stared deep into his emerald eyes. "Yes." She said in a voice barely above a whisper.

 **A/N Yeah I know its a little short but I want to get this out before Christmas hits and I can't do anything. Sorry for the wait and the future wait.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Yule Ball

A/N Hey I'm back, sorry about the wait but if you feel like reading my apology for being away so long it's in the bottom A/N. So no harem (kinda happy with the results myself :) ) based on votes in the poll as well as what people said in the reviews. Hope you like this chapter

Chapter 13

Harry stood on the frozen grass outside the Beauxbatons carriage as he waited for Fleur to finish getting ready. It was only 15 minutes before they were supposed to meet McGonagall with the other champions outside the Great Hall where the Yule Ball would be held. Casting a quick tempus charm, Harry had a slightly annoyed and worried facial expression as the charm revealed that it was now 6:49. Harry had been standing there for nearly half and hour as what felt like the entire Beauxbatons contingent had walked out. As Harry finished his last thought Fleur walked out the door and for a brief minute that was the last coherent thought Harry could form.

Fleur wore a long, form-fitting silver dress made of the softest silk. In Harry's opinion, the silver of Fleur's dress seemed to reflect her beauty in a way that made it seem as if she shone in an ethereal light. Her silvery blonde hair was done up in an elegant princess bun. Harry had a broad smile on his face as he walked up to escort Fleur down the stairs from the carriage. "You look great." Harry said when she was on the ground with him.

"And you look quite handsome yourself." She replied as she inspected his dress robes that had been delivered last week. They were made of acromantula silk and had interwoven defense charms as a well as charms that made it more malleable to spells that would expand the robes as Harry grew.

Reaching into his back pocket, Harry pulled out a box that he had spent a great amount of effort in acquiring. Harry handed it to Fleur who had a questioning look on her face. Opening the box her eyes widened in awe as its contents were revealed to her. Holding it out in her hands Harry could tell just from her eyes that all the trouble of sneaking out of the school to search for it was well worth it.

"This is beautiful." Fleur said with incredulity. "Where did you get this?"

The object in her hand was an old necklace that Harry's great grandfather had given to his bride for her to wear it on their wedding day. It was a diamond necklace with hundreds of diamonds throughout the design and surrounding a golden pendent that lay just above Fleur's chest.

Stepping behind her to put it on for her Harry said, "It is a family heirloom that came from the Potter vaults and belonged to my great grandmother."

After clasping it together Harry moved to Fleur's side and held out his arm, elbow bent. Fleur with a radiant smile held onto his arm and allowed him to escort her to Great Hall.

As they walked, nearly every person they passed stopped and stared at the two champions, and for all of them, unadulterated jealousy visible in their eyes.

Right as the clock struck seven, Harry and Fleur entered the antechamber where McGonagall was waiting for them. Already, Krum and his date where there. Harry was surprised and rather pleased to see that Krum's date was the Hermione girl. Despite not really knowing her, she still was the one who knocked some sense into Harry and convinced him to ask Fleur which automatically made her one of his favorite Hogwarts students.

"Right then," McGonagall said when she saw that all the champions were present, though she did seem a little surprised to see Harry and Fleur together. Harry thought that this might mean that perhaps she isn't as implicit in Dumbledore's schemes as he originally assumed. "As you all know by now the four of you will open the ball with the first dance before dinner is served. After that, you may do as you wish for the rest of the night but I would like to encourage you to stay for at least some of the ball." She finished before taking them and lining them up outside the main doors the Great Hall with Krum and Hermione in front with Harry and Fleur following.

When the doors opened, only very light applause met the champions who began to proceed down the aisle; apparently there only being two couples simply made the lack of Cedric even more apparent to those in the hall.

When the four of them made it to the stage the band off to the side began to play and with every eye in the hall on them, the champions began the opening dance for the Yule Ball. During the dance, much to Fleur's surprise, Harry displayed his near-perfect dancing skills, never once stepping on her feet. Fleur and Harry could both feel themselves being lost in the music and in the company of each other; completely ignoring all those around them that were staring at the two in a mixture of awe and lust.

As the last note of the song rang throughout the room, the applause from the crowd was thunderous, and vastly greater then when they had entered. As the sounds coming from the crowd washed over them, Harry and Fleur were pulled from the daze that the two had entered and Harry could feel a blush rising on his face; yet he never looked away from the summer blue eyes that looked right back at him. The two of them didn't notice when many other couples joined the champions on the dance floor, as they had again become lost in each other.

It was nearly half and hour and seven songs later that the music stopped playing and the two of them slowly became more aware of their surroundings. The dance floor had begun to rapidly empty as the band had begun to pack up their instruments to leave. Realizing this, Harry quickly scanned the Great Hall to see Hermione and Krum sitting at a table together at a table that besides them, was completely empty. Walking nearly the length of the Great Hall to get to the table that was tucked away in the back corner, Harry and Fleur didn't notice some of the heated glares sent their way. Even worse though, they didn't notice a small group comprised of a teacher and three students, all huddled to together talking in hushed tones.

Only when Harry and Fleur sat at the table did Hermione and Krum notice them, "Hey you two." Hermione said with a knowing voice, while giving Harry an 'I told you so' look.

"Hello Hermione, hello Victor." Harry responded, too happy with how the night had gone so far to respond to the knowing look Hermione had given him.

After Fleur greeted the two Hermione said, "Krum was just about to go get some drinks, would you two care for one?"

After a questioning look at Fleur who simply nodded Harry said, "Sure and I'll come with Victor so that he doesn't have to carry all four of them."

Harry and Victor began to thread their way through the labyrinth of tables and people when they heard a magically amplified voice yell, "Hogwarts! Are you ready to rock?!" Dozens of excited squeals were heard throughout the hall as nearly every person in attendance rushed to the stage including, much to Victor's amusement, a very excited Hermione.

Using the sudden absence of people between them and the table filled with drinks, Krum and Harry quickly filled two drinks a piece and began to return to their table when Harry stopped in surprise. "Huh," Harry began and Krum looked at him with a questioning look "I never thought Fleur was a big fan of the Weird Sisters" Harry finished referring to the all female band that had begun blasting their music throughout the Great Hall, making hearing any other sounds remarkably difficult.

"I guess we should just head to the table and stay there and wait for them." Krum suggested, having to nearly yell just to be heard. As the two of them returned to the table Harry noticed something shining under the table. Reaching under Harry grabbed the hard object that was quickly losing its heat. Looking at it Harry felt a pit of fear form in his stomach, the item in his hand was the necklace he had given to Fleur before the dance.

Almost as soon as it was there, the pit of fear he felt had faded and gave way to anger and Harry sprinted out of the Great Hall leaving a very confused Krum who was slowly beginning to put the pieces together. When what happened finally struck him, Krum sprinted into the raving horde of people that had gathered in front of the stage and after a minute of struggling through the crowd finally found Hermione. Grabbing her by the shoulder, Krum began to pull her arm in an obvious attempt to get her to follow him. When Krum knew Hermione was following him he began to quickly leave the Great Hall to aid the two champions who he felt were beginning to become his friends. What Krum didn't know was that by the time he and Hermione arrived they would be too late to be of any help.

When Harry entered the hallway outside the Great hall he couldn't see Fleur and had no idea which direction he needed to go to find her. Activating a tracking charm that he had discreetly placed on her hair when they had first meet Harry quickly followed that bright orange line that led him into the second floor on a hallway that Harry knew to have been abandoned for years. Seeing a large swath of dust and well as several distinct shoe imprints in the dust that had gathered on the floor Harry knew he no longer needed the tracking spell and let it dissipate as he hurriedly followed the path made on the floor, that much to his anger, had begun to include the occasional drop of blood.

Seeing the tracks leading into an abandoned classroom, Harry quickly prepared for the worst, and prepared to break into the room. Remembering all the time Sirius had spent teaching him how to storm a building, Harry stood back and gathered his magic before he yelled, "Bombarda Maxima!" and blasted the entire door inward. Harry then stepped outside of the door frame both to dodge any possible return spells and when none were forthcoming to protect himself from the concussion spell he cast inside of the room. After the flash and resulting concussive blast, Harry counted to 2 before he quickly entered the room to a sight that almost stopped him in his tracks. Three Hogwarts students, one of whom Harry knew to be the Draco Malfoy brat, stood around a bound Fleur who was unconscious and bleeding from a small gash on her face.

Upon seeing this, Harry felt his vision go red and not in the mood for mercy, cast three bone-exploding hexes towards the three students wand arms before blasting all three of them back with bludgeoning hexes. Draco Malfoy and the two others that Harry did not know that names of were groaning in pain before Harry stunned and bound all three before casting a powerful rennervate on Fleur.

Fleur's eyes snapped open and when she saw Harry a now unbound Fleur stood and immediately threw herself into his arms. Harry could feel her strangled sobs as her head was buried in his chest. They stood there for several minutes before two startled gasps came from the door. When he heard it Harry immediately released Fleur and pointed his wand towards the two standing in the door only to see it was Krum and Hermione.

"Harry what happened?" Krum asked with a concerned voice.

It was instead Fleur that answered him, "Before they stunned me they said they were going to rape and leave me unconscious in Knockturn Alley for anyone who wanted to use me." She was able to say before breaking down into Harry's arms again. With her head on his chest again Fleur whispered in a voice that only Harry could hear, "I was so afraid. I thought that their plan would work after they took my wand and had dragged me this far and you still didn't show up." She said while Harry would feel another wave of tears soak his robes.

"I'm sorry Fleur, I failed you. If I hadn't seen this on the ground then who knows how long it would have been before I finally realized something was wrong." Harry whispered while holding the necklace he gave her where she could see it.

Fleur lifted her head off his chest just barely enough that she could see it before a small smile graced her face for the first time in a while that night. "When I felt them grab me and use a silencing spell on me I undid the clasp and left it the table hoping you would see it." She explained.

Taking the necklace Harry walked behind Fleur who looked upset that Harry's arms were no longer around only to give a radiant smile when she realized what he was doing. "I told you that you could wear this for the night, and tonight is not over despite how bad it started." Harry said while looking and Krum and Hermione who had been standing in the doorway this entire time. After Harry thanked them for their help the two of them left likely to go back to the ball.

"So what do we do about them?" Harry asked not wanting to return to the elephant in the room. Instead of answering Fleur cast three bludgeoning hexes that when they landed made Harry blanch and almost feel pain himself.

"That ought to teach them a lesson don't you think?" Fleur asked with an evil smirk.

"I'm certainly glad you're not mad at me." Harry said. Looking at Fleur with a questioning look Harry asked, "I know you don't probably want to go back to the ball but I know somewhere we can go." Fleur's only response was a sincere smile and she let Harry lead her to the seventh floor and a blank stretch of wall opposite of what she felt was an amusing yet stupid painting. Fleur's curiosity only continued to rise as Harry walked in front of said stretch of back and forth until, to her amazement, a door molded itself into the wall.

As she walked in she could see a very comfy looking couch facing a cheerfully crackling fire. "Is this where you've stayed all this time?" Fleur asked with amazement.

"Yeah." Harry said with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head, "It's where I spend all my time when I'm not following you or with you."

The two of them sat on the couch and looked into the fire when Harry summoned Dobby and got him to bring in a bottle of wine. With a surprised look Fleur opened the bottle and poured the two of them a small glass of wine. "So what exactly is it that this room can do?" Fleur asked.

With a smile Harry began to explain, "I really love this room," he began, "what it does is it senses what you most desire and it gives that to you." He explained, "You if you needed a bathroom…" Harry left that hanging and Fleur lightly swatted him on the shoulder.

"Prat." She said before pulling her feet up onto the couch and leaning into Harry while placing her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for rescuing me tonight." She said bringing them back to the serious events that had just happened.

Harry simply looked into her eyes and said, "There's no need to thank me. It's my job to protect you and besides, I have to actually work for a living every now and then don't I?" Harry said making her laugh. To him it was one of the best sounds he had ever heard.

As their laughter died down and they sat in companionable silence Fleur's eyes began to wander the room the Harry had created when her eyes saw a picture frame that was sitting on the hearth above the fire. Summoning it to her hand Fleur saw it was a picture of a smiling Harry and four other people. From the description given to her by Harry she knew two of them to Remus and Sirius, the two he had lived with in hiding since Voldemort attacked his family. Upon closer inspection Fleur realized that the other two looked very similar to Harry and Fleur knew that these two had to be his parents. Fleur smiled when she saw the one she felt was Harry's father ruffle his hair before smiling back at her.

While Fleur was looking at the picture that represented what Harry wanted most he was thinking about just how they had gotten here. He had gone from her protector that she vehemently denied needing to be being her fellow champions to her Yule Ball date and now Harry didn't know what he felt for her. For the longest time there relationship was one of business but Harry now knew that somewhere she had become more than that to him.

After Fleur was done inspecting the portrait she turned back to look up at Harry and her eyes met his own. Barely several inches separated them and she could feel herself being drawn in to him.

The space between them slowly began to dissipate and before Harry knew it, their lips met and Harry felt tingles in his spine and it felt like fireworks were going off in his head.

After a few seconds they separated and on a table next to the couch Harry could a new picture forming next to where Fleur placed the one of him and his family.

Once the picture was done being created Harry's smile grew even larger when he saw its contents. In it, Harry and Fleur were sitting on a picnic blanket and smiling while sharing the occasional chaste kiss. Fleur turned and she too saw the picture and felt a smile on her face. After watching themselves for a few minutes Fleur turned to look back at the emerald green eyes of the man that had become so much more than her protector. Focusing her intent, Fleur tried her hand at changing the Room of Requirement and soon her efforts were rewarded. Looking up Fleur saw a branch of mistletoe growing above them and she looked at it with a smile.

Fleur again met Harry's eyes and saw surprise and happiness in them. "Mistletoe." He whispered for their lips met again.

 **A/N I hope this chapter can make up for me being a terrible writer and not updating for so long. This is definitely one of the longer chapters and probably my favorite chapter in this story so far. I hope to write more in the future but for the rest of April and most of May I have massive amounts of schoolwork I need to do as the school year ends. Thanks for reading and staying with this story, it made me really happy to see that this story still was growing despite my prolonged absence.**


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